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Qatari banks defy Italian debt shockwaves
July 11, 2011--While financial shares in Dubai posted heavy losses on Monday due to new worries over an extended Euro debt crisis triggered by speculations over
a "Greece-style" sovereign debt case in Italy, banking stocks in Doha stood firm and lifted the QE Index 0.10% higher to 8,496.87 points. Commercial Bank of Qatar outperformed (up 0.68% at QR73.50), while the country's largest lender Qatar National Bank gained slightly (0.14% higher at QR142.70).
Kuwait-listed financial shares drag market index down
July 11, 2011--The KSE Market Index declined 0.45% to 6,183.5 points. National Bank of Kuwait was forced back to KD1.140 (off 1.72%), while the country's largest Islamic bank Kuwait Finance House (down one percent to KD.980).
Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House gained against the trend and closed 3.7% higher at KD0.056.
Egypt's inflation dips slightly in June
July 11, 2011--Inflation in Egypt in the year ending June has eased slightly due to lower food prices from a year earlier, supporting a hold in central bank interest rates in July to support an economy reeling from the impact of the revolt that ousted president Hosni Mubarak, Reuters has reported.
Urban consumer inflation was 11.8% in the 12 months to June from 11.87% in May, according to Egypt's state statistics agency CAPMAS. However, prices increased 0.4% on a monthly basis in June, as prices of food and tobacco increased from May.
Thomson Reuters launch Islamic Indices in Middle East
July 11, 2011--Investment based on the principals of Islamic Finance is growing at over 15% annually making this $1 trillion dollar industry. Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head of Islamic Finance, Thomson Reuters talks to Phil Blizzard about the introduction of Islamic Indices, similar to the Dow Jones offerings, and their development over the past 15 years.
Islamic Indexing 2.0 requires transparency and lower cost information research and that will lead to greater number of transactions says Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head of Islamic Finance, Thomson Reuters and that will lead to greater number of transactions and greater growth. He talks to Phil Blizzard about how this will be embraced in the Middle East and renounces a perception that Islamic Finance is linked to terrorism.
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange Weekly Market Commentary- July 10, 2011
July 11, 2011-- Economic Data Overview
There are very few US data items that will be of particular interest to markets in the coming week. The release of earnings reports for the second quarter will get underway in earnest on Monday with numbers from Alcoa. That company data is expected after market hours.
Second, the Fed will release the FOMC meeting minutes on Tuesday in advance of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's scheduled semi-annual monetary policy testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, which is due on Wednesday. It is presumed, but not yet announced, that the Chairman will be before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
The two main data reports likely to define the July 11 week are those for June retail sales on Thursday and the Consumer Price Index on Friday. Any hint that consumer spending has picked up will benefit the outlook for the economy overall. Further confirmation of a moderation in consumer price increases will ease uncertainty in markets about whether the Fed was correct in its assessment of increases in headline inflation being transitory. The Fed will not have this.
Qatari shares end mixed
July 7, 2011--The Doha-based QE Index closed 0.12% higher at 8,502.49 points.
All sector indices gained, except the banking and financial index. Takaful operator Islamic insurance bucked the sector trend and surged 2.36% higher to QR56.40. The country's largest lender by market value Qatar National Bank dipped one percent and closed at QR143.30.
Banks keep Kuwait bourse up by 0.07%,
July 7, 2011--The KSE Market Index closed 0.07% higher on Thursday at 6,212.9 points.
Mushrif Trading and Contracting Co. soared 8.92%, closing at KD0.122. Al Safat Real Estate Co. plummeted 12.12% to KD0.0145. Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait surged 1.5%, ending at KD0.670. The banking sector index and the food segment were the only segments which added value.
Aldar shares rebound, index ends lower
July 7, 2011--The Abu Dhabi bourse ADX fell 0.08% to 2,714.77 points. Aldar Properties added 1.56%, closing at Dhs1.31.
Shares of Green Crescent Insurance Company gained 1.52%, reaching Dhs0.67. Earlier in the day, Green Crescent said in a statement to the ADX that the recent price jump of over 16% during the week, was "purely market driven". "We know of no reason for the increase in the shares," the statement added. Some 42.27m stocks valued at Dhs73.12m were traded. Over the first trading week of July, the ADX General Index gained half a percent.
Dubai market gains 2.69% over the week
July 7, 2011-The DFM General Index added 0.37% on Thursday, closing at 1,557.85 points amid higher trading volumes. Arabtec Construction was the most active share by value and by volume, closing 2.27% higher at Dhs1.35.
Dubai Refreshments lost the most, ending down 4.55% to Dhs10.50. Around 117.4m shares valued at Dhs131.63m changed hands. Swiss private bank Sarasin earlier today issued a research paper on the third quarter, saying "we think the inflation spike and above all the supply problems will be temporary. Therefore, in view of the economic rebound, the global economy should pick up speed again in 2H11. The situation in Greece should also settle down during the course of the second half of 2011. A brighter economic outlook and a declining risk aversion suggest higher yields in the second half 2011." The first week of July indeed marked was a relief for DFM investors who saw the General Index falling by 6.97% during the first six months of 2011. Since July 1st, the DFM surged 2.69%.
Business activity slows in UAE in June
July 7, 2011--According to a survey by HSBC Holdings, the non-oil private sector business activity in the UAE slowed in June, compared with the previous month, an indication that the buoyancy the country received from the regional unrest may be on the decline, Khaleej Times has reported.
The HSBC UAE Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which measures the performance of the manufacturing and services sectors, fell from 56 in May to 55.2 in June (its lowest reading for three months), but the PMI remained above its long-run trend. A reading above 50 indicates economic expansion.
