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Dana Gas shares close flat despite first 2011 gas discovery in Egypt
May 3, 2011--The ADX General Index ended 0.10% lower at 2,689.29 points.
Ras al Khaima-based Union Cement posted the largest gain (up 7.50% at Dhs1.29). Dana Gas from Sharjah closed unchanged at Dhs0.67. Earlier in the day, Dana Gas announced has announced its latest gas discovery in the Nile Delta, Egypt. "The 'South Abu El Naga-2' well, drilled as an appraisal of the previously announced South Abu El Naga Field in the West El Manzala Concession encountered 16.6 meters of net pay in the Abu Madi formation, thus extending the field", Dana Gas says in a statement to the ADX. Aldar shares added 1.93% to reach Dhs1.62. As in Dubai, trading turnover remained weak. Ten shares gained, 13 lost and eight ended flat in Abu Dhabi.
Kuwait bourse weakens 0.22%
May 3, 2011--The KSE Market Index closed at 6,502.3 points.
Shares of Global Investment House, which advanced significantly last week, dived 7.27% at KD0.051. Yiaco Medical Co. surged 6.57% to reach KD0.405. The share almost doubled during the last 12 months.
Qatar National Bank shares rebound
May 3, 2011--The QE Index closed 0.05% lower at 8,509.87 points.
The country's largest financial institution Qatar National Bank recovered some territory by surging 1.74% to close at QR140.40. Nakilat shares dropped to a near-two-years lowe, off 1.18% at QR18.41
Tadawul bourse declines 0.38%
May 3, 2011--The Saudi Stock Exchange closes at 6,694.14 points. Shares of Saudi Chemical Company closed unchanged at SR48.50.
Earlier in the day, Saudi Chemical Company announced that its subsidiary SITCO Pharma has signed a contract with Mawarid Trading Limited to pay back SR230m which represents the cost of the deal where SITCO Pharma acquired 50% of the shares of Al Dawaa Medical Services Limited, which was not approved by the Saudi Chemical Company General Assembly in the second meeting. Market bellwether Sabic dipped 0.89%, finishing at SR111.00. Saudi Arabia Refineries Co. surged 9.97% to reach SR40.80.
Osama Bin Laden death fuels US dollar, stock rebound
May 2, 2011--Following President Barack Obama's announcement of Osama Bin Laden's death in a US security operation the US dollar rebounded
and global stock markets saw gains, with the Japanese Nikkei 225 climbing above 10,000 level and Asian markets that are closed today expected to react tomorrow. The prices of oil, gold and silver dropped.
Dubai market falls insignificantly
May 2, 2011--The DFM General Index ended 0.04% lower at 1,627.86 points. Dubai Investments Co., known as DIC, declined 2.73% at Dhs0.854.
Earlier in the day, DIC announced a first quarter net profit of Dhs100.5m, down from Dhs289.2m compared to the same period in 2010. Earnings per share dropped to Dhs0.03 from Dhs0.08. Emaar was the most liquid share (down 0.31% at Dhs3.24). Some 94. 73m shares valued at Dhs113.82m changed hands.
Energy, real estate shares keep Abu Dhabi market up
May 2, 2011--The ADX General Index ended 0.04% higher on Monday at 2,692.02 points.
Gulf Cement Co. was the main gainer, closing 8.89% higher at Dhs1.47. Aldar Properties, the most liquid share, added 1.97% to reach Dhs1.54. Ten stocks edged higher, 11 declined and nine ended flat.
Qatar Exchange dives 1.93%
May 2, 2011--The Doha-based QE Index closed at 8,514.11 points. Weak performing insurance firms weighed on the market in particular. Qatar Electricity and Water lost 0.68% at QR146.00.
The QE announced earlier in the day, that the 41 listed have disclosed their financial statements for the three months period ended March 31, 2011 with the exception of Vodafone Qatar. "The reported net profit for the period ended on 31 March 2011 is QR 9 billion, a 12.64 % increase compared to the 7.9 QR billion during the corresponding period in 2010", the statement says.
DGCX Weekly Market Comentary - May 1, 2011
May 1, 2011--Economic Data Overview
The May 2 week has a steady flow of economic data releases, but it is the April employment report that will be the focus. Three major central banks will make their respective monetary policy announcements. Next week routine monetary policy statements are expected from the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Bank of England and the ECB.
The Reserve Bank of Australia's announcement will be published in the US during the early morning hours of Tuesday. While the Bank's most recent statements have placed policy on hold, the news of a surprising uptick in inflation during the first quarter may return the Bank to a tightening bias. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee holds a two-day session on Wednesday and Thursday. Its decision is expected around 0700 ET on Thursday. The Bank probably will not hike rates yet, or reduce the size of its Asset Purchase Program, but it is leaning more in that direction. The ECB increased rates by 25 basis points at its last meeting on April 7, but no further hikes are expected at the Thursday meeting. The announcement should be released around 0745 ET.
After the end of the traditional press blackout period that surrounds an FOMC meeting, Fed policymakers will be making public comments again. There probably will be no real surprises in any of the speeches to be given. Although the data release calendar is fairly busy over the course of the week, not much will distract from employment report for April on Friday at 0830 ET. Currently market expectations are for a rise in nonfarm payrolls of about 200,000, in line with the last two months. The unemployment rate is anticipated to be about the same at 8.8%. This would be consistent with an improvement in labour market conditions, although with a long way to go. Still, it would be more evidence of a sustained recovery for jobs. The only data likely to result in any last minute adjustment to analysts' outlooks for employment is the ADP National Employment Report at 0815 ET on Wednesday. The report has matched up fairly closely to the change in payrolls for the last two months, and there does not appear to be any special factors that might throw that off for the April data. Other labour market specific reports are the Challenger numbers on layoff intentions in April at 0730 ET on Wednesday and theMonster.com Employment Index for April which will be released in the early hours of Thursday. Initial claims levels for the week ended April 30 will be reported at 0830 ET on Thursday. Recent weeks have shown an
Dubai market ends week in the red
April 28, 2011--The DFM General Index weakened on Thursday by 1.92% to 1,634.13 points. Over the last trading week of April, the DFM benchmark lost 2.84% amid weak performing banks and construction firms.
Emaar dipped 0.60% to Dhs3.29. Shares of Emirates NBD dived 6.32% to close at Dhs4.00 after investment bank EFG Hermes said that ENBD's net profit for the first quarter of Dhs1.8bn "fell well short of our expectations, however, despite the higher-than-expected gain versus our Dhs1.2bn estimate on the sale of ENBD's 49% stake in Network International, due to higher general provisions and a further write-down of Union Properties' (UP) investment value." EFG Hermes, however, maintained its 'buy'-rating on ENBD, because "the risk of further provisions has been substantially reduced, in our view, as the bank appears to have front-loaded its expected full-year provisions", EFG Hermes said in a statement. Eight shares gained, 22 declined and two ended flat. Trading turnover remained low, as 123.93m shares worth Dhs181.08m changed hands.
