Middle East ETF News Older than One Year
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."
Source: AME Info
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.
Source: AME Info
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.
Source: AME Info
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%,"
Source: AME Info
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.”
Source: African Capital Markets
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.
Source: Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX)
Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange Weekly View-February 20, 2011
February 20, 2011--Economic Data Overview
US markets will be closed on Monday for the Presidents' Day observance, leaving a shortened four-day US workweek. There is a moderate amount of economic data and it is a busy week for Fed officials. The speech contents will be weighed in advance of the next FOMC meeting on March 15, but there will be no major central bank announcements next week.
Data on the housing market should be the most important to the majority of markets, but there is also a fair amount for the factory sector, labour market and on growth.
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index for February on Tuesday will be the first release after the Conference Board announced the new survey on Monday, February 14. The Conference Board provided three months of data based on the Nielsen Company survey and revised the indexes up to 57.8 in November, 63.4 in December and 65.6 in January.
The final Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for February is set for Friday. The preliminary index reading was 75.1, up about 1 point from the 74.2 in January. Consumer confidence generally seems to be on an upswing, but the path is uneven.
New orders for durable goods in January at are due on Thursday and it could well be another soft month based on weak orders for civilian aircraft. However, there may be some holdover from December's aircraft orders that did not show up in that month's data that could make January look better. Also, orders for motor vehicles were likely stronger.
There are two more February surveys of manufacturing from Fed District Banks during the week. The Richmond Fed will report on Tuesday and the Kansas City Fed's numbers will be released on Thursday. So far the data from New York and Philadelphia were
Source: Source: Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange
OPEC Monthly Oil Report February 2011
February 18, 2011--Oil Market Highlights
The OPEC Reference Basket maintained its momentum in January, moving within a $90-95/b range, which resulted in a monthly average of $92.83/b, up $4.27 or 4.8% from the previous month.
This upward trend was attributed to bullish sentiment in the futures markets, which pushed both Nymex WTI and ICE Brent front months to 28-month highs. Improving macroeconomic sentiment, cold weather pushing demand higher, as well as growing investment in the paper market and recent
geo-political concerns, were the main contributors to the strong market.
Traded volumes of ICE Brent hit a record high in January and resulted in a large premium of Brent over WTI, as WTI futures remained affected by ample stocks in Cushing, Oklahoma. The OPEC Basket stood at $96.93/b on 9 February.
World economic growth remains unchanged at 4.5% for 2010 and 3.9% for 2011. OECD growth for 2011, now forecast at 2.3%, has improved due to the additional US stimulus which was introduced at the end of last year. The US is now expected to expand by 2.9% and the Euro-zone was raised to 1.4%. Growth for Developing Countries remained almost unchanged, with China growing at 9.7% and 8.8% and India at 8.0% and 8.5% in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Despite increased activity in the manufacturing sector, which has led to a broad-based improvement in global sentiment, significant challenges remain. The extraordinary sovereign debt levels and the high unemployment in the OECD, rising inflation rates, combined with the possibility of overheating in Developing Countries, constitute concerns that might influence the 2011 growth trend.
view the OPEC Monthly Oil Report February 2011
Source: OPEC
Qatar market declines further
February 17, 2011--The Qatar Exchange in Doha was besides Bahrain open for trading on Thursday, while other GCC markets closed on the occasion of the Prophet Mohammed's (PBUH) birthday
The QE Index closed 1.34% lower at 8,703.07 as insurers in particular lost out. General Insurance underperformed 1.56% to close at QR63.00. Real estate firm United Development Company, known as UDC and builder of the business- and lifestyle-island The Pearl Qatar, closed glat at QR27.30. UDC held its Ordinary and Extraordinary General Assembly Meetings held on Wednesday, and has resolved distribution of a 20% cash dividend. The EGM also approved UDC's plan to distribute 26.812.500 shares as bonus shares at the rate of two shares for each ten shares (%20 of the capital) and thus increase the capital of the Company QR1.608.750.000 and to issue convertible bonds not to exceed QR1.072.500.000 or equivalent in foreign currency in private subscription the conditions of which shall be determined by the Board of Directors which is authorized to take all required measures. Shares of Qatar Islamic Bank bucked the trend by gaining 0.12% to reach QR84.40.
Source: AME Info
Bahrain market defies regional downtrend
February 17, 2011--The Bahrain bourse gained 0.58% on Thursday and closed at 1,475.10.
On a year-to-date basis, the market has advanced 2.99%, the highest gain among all Arab stock markets. However, only Nationall Bank of Bahrain was heading upwards today, gaining 8.82% to reach BD0.74. According to Dubai-based Institute for Corporate Governance Hawkamah, 95% of Bahrain-listed shares are not traded on a daily basis.
Source: AME Info
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