Middle East News Older Than 1 year-If your looking for specific news, using the search function will narrow down the results
Qatar Exchange plummets 3.57%
February 22, 2011--The QE Index in Doha closed 3.57% lower at 8,185.24 points, driven by losses across all sectors. Qatar National Bank dived 3.50% to close at QR123.90. Al Ahli Bank (up 0.66% at QR61.30) and General Insurance (gaining 6.78% at QR63.00) bucked the trend.
Telco-provider Vodafone Qatar dipped 1.55%, finishing at QR7.63. Earlier in the day, the country's second telecom provider said it established a partnership woth global IT systems integrator to the telecom industry Tech Mahindra "for the delivery of information services and support which will help make a world of difference to Vodafone customers in Qatar." Under the 3-year agreement, Tech Mahindra will deliver solutions to support services to Vodafone Qatar's 700,000 customers.
Tadawul market loses slightly
February 22, 2011--The Tadawul exchange in Riyadh dipped 0.35% to close at 6,277.03, as bellwether SABIC lost a quarter percent, ending at SR97. Shares of The Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) jumped 7.47% to reach SR9.35.
Earlier in the day, the KHC, chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, announced the development of the second Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh at "Kingdom Oasis" will be the center piece of a 3.8M sqm residential development part of the of "Kingdom Riyadh Land" that is 16m sqm, will be offering unparalleled living community experience in Riyadh. The Kingdom Holding plummeted earlier in the week after his offer to buy a 25%-stake of Kuwait's telecom giant Zain's Saudi subsidiary Zain KSA was turned down. Zain KSE closed down 4.05% at SR7.10.
Dubai market loses 1.30% as Emaar dips below Dhs3.00
February 21, 2011-The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) did not show signs of a rebound on Monday as its General Index closed 1.30% lower at 1,516.43 points. Emaar Properties was the most liquid share and dipped 1.32% to finish at Dhs2.98.
United Foods Co. was the main loser and ended 10% down at Dhs5.40. Shares of Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) dived 1.78% to close at Dhs2.21. Earlier in the day, rating agency Fitch said it has assigned DIB a long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'A' with a Stable Outlook, Short-term IDR of 'F1', Individual Rating of 'C/D' and Support Rating Floor of 'A'. "DIB's Long- and Short-term IDRs and Support Rating reflect the extremely high probability of support from the UAE authorities, if needed", the statement says. Fitch Ratings cited further DIB's "strong franchise, earnings power and satisfactory liquidity position." Gulf General Investment Co., known as GGICO, hit the top of the charts by gaining 6.89% to reach Dhs0.45. Gary Dugan, Chief Investment Officer and Acting General Manager, Private Banking, Emirates NBD, told AMEinfo.com today that he consults his clients to be cautious with equity investments during the next four to five months as stock markets in the West rise despite non-supporting news from the industry sectors and rising inflation. "Although the local UAE markets have reached attractive valuations, international investors avoid the region in general due to ongoing civil unrest in some Arab countries and geopolitical uncertainties", Dugan added. Some 123.36m shares worth Dhs170.88m changed hands at the DFM.
Abu Dhabi bourse declines as blue chips plummet
February 21, 2011-The ADX Index closed 0.47% lower at 2,620.29 points. ADX heavyweights Aldar Properties (down 2.94% at Dhs1.64), Sorouh Real Estate (off 2.48% at Dhs1.18) and energy firm Dana Gas (1.54% lower at Dhs0.63)
weighed on the market sentiment as global linvestors currently shy away from GCC markets due to ongoing civil unrest in Libya and Yemen.
Qatar Exchange shaves 8,500 points
February 21, 2011-The QE Index lost 0.88% to close at 8,488.08 points. Shares of Qatar Gas Transport Company, known as Nakilat, closed 0.98% lower at QR18.10.
Nakilat said in a statement to the QE earlier in the day, that "as a result of the change in Moody's rating methodology on government-related issuers, Moody's has changed its ratings for senior secured bonds issued by Nakilat Inc. to Aa3 from Aa2, and for subordinated secured bonds to A1 from Aa3. The outlook is stable."
Kuwait market gains half a percent
February 21, 2011-Gains in the banking sector helped the KSE Market Index to recover, closing 0.50% higher at 6,426. National Bank of Kuwait (up 1.51% at KD1.340) and Islamic banks Kuwait Finance House (1.75% higher at KD1.160) and Boubyan Bank (gaining 1.72% at KD0.590) were top gainers
in the banking segment. Insurers performed mostly lower, as Kuwait Insurance Co. dived 3.65% to close at KD0.395.
Tadawul market weakens 0.55%
February 21, 2011-The Saudi Arabian TASI benchmark closed at 6,298.85, off half a percent on Monday amid ongoing buyers' strike throughout regional equity markets. SABIC, the petrochemical giant, closed 0.51% lower at SR97.25.
Islamic bank Al Rajhi Bank ended flat at SR76.00 after Credit Suisse maintained its 'outperform' rating and a target price of SR90.00, because "Al-Rajhi continues to deliver the highest Return on Equity in the sector, which stood at 23% for 2010 vs. 16% for the sector", analyst Mohamad Hawa writes. Zamil Industrial Investment Co. closed 0.57% lower at SR34.90. Earlier in the day, Zamil disclosed that net profits for the year 2010 amounted to SR211.1m compared to SR230.1m, representing a decrease of 8.3 percent compared to the same period in 2009. Twenty-two shares gained, 103 declined and 19 remained unchanged in Riyadh.
Egypt central bank expects 2010/11 growth of 3-3.5%
February 21, 2011- Egypt's central bank has said that political unrest could cut the country's economic growth by 50% in the fiscal year that ends in June, but the economy should rebound quickly after that, Reuters has reported.
"The coming two quarters will see some slowdown till things gather momentum again. We'll see the growth for the fiscal year ending June 2011 - we expect the growth to fall possibly as low as 3%, 3.5%,"
Private equity firm sees “compelling opportunities” in Egypt and beyond
February 21, 2011--A leading African private equity firm, Citadel Capital based in Cairo, says change in Egypt brings “very compelling opportunities for long-term private equity investors in Egypt and beyond.”
But it warned in a recent press release: “The situation on the ground in Egypt remains fluid" and there could be "short-term impact on both our investment and divestiture plans.”
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange implements big blocks market during trading sessions
February 21, 2011--Starting the 3rd of March of this year the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) will start the implementation of a new big blocks market that will take place simultaneously during the existing trading sessions. ADX aims to meet the investors' needs and re-enforces its transparency rules and demonstrates the depth of the market.
In This Regard, Mr. Rashed Al Baloushi Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Operations said that some trades with large volumes which may be for strategic reasons, are often pre-arranged deals due to their size and nature. Trading them through the regular market may not reflect their actual prices and circumstances. Hence, ADX decided to facilitate these type of transactions to improve transparency and disclosure which ADX gives a high priority.
