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Abu Dhabi set for $10bn spend on oil output
November 4, 2010-Ali Rashid al Jarwan, CEO of Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co (ADMA-OPCO) has unveiled plans by the company to spend at least $10bn on developing two offshore fields to boost the firm's crude output by 60% by 2017, Reuters has reported.
ADMA-OPCO is developing two offshore oil fields, Umm al Lulu and Nasr, with the first phase expected to add 50,000 bpd in capacity.
Dubai Mercantile Exchange Sets New Records for Average Daily Volumes and Physical Delivery
November 3, 2010--The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) today announced its third quarter trading update, headlined by record average daily volumes and open interest levels.
he average daily volume during the quarter was 2,777 contracts, up from 1,522 contracts during the same period in 2009. This significant year-on-year increase of 82% is further demonstration of the increased confidence in the DME Oman contract as the most transparent price discovery and risk management tool for the East of Suez crude oil markets.
ADX Seeks more ETFs Institutional Investors
Relying on UCITS Regulations Offers more Investor Confidence,” Elie Ghanem
November 3, 2010--Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) is focusing at this stage to attract more institutional investors to its Exchange Traded Funds’ (ETF) trading platform, according to Elie Ghanem, Director of the exchange’s Market and Product Development (MPD).
Mr. Ghanem made the remarks during the Abu Dhabi City Day Conference taking place in the capital today to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the emirate’s financial sector.
“The platform that ADX provides for ETFs relies on the UCITS regulations, which have been thoroughly tested and provide for excellent solutions for exposure and risk issues. Meanwhile ADX rules and regulations require the appointment of an independent fund administration and index calculation agents; all offering more investor confidence,” commented ADX’s Director of MPD.
ADX was able to launch the ETFs trading platform in March 2010, to become the leading exchange in the region by introducing the platform for this new investment vehicle, and with the infrastructure in place, the challenge now is to increase institutional participation and retail investment.
“For retail investors, ADX will continue carrying out an awareness program to highlight the benefits of ETFs for the low cost associated with their trading, risk diversification and transparency,” Mr. Ghanem explained.
Ghanem emphasized that the ETFs platform represents an essential ingredient for ADX’s initiative concerning the increase of the free float, supporting the exchange’s efforts for delivering the objectives set by the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 to meet the projections of the emirate’s Policy Agenda.
“It is important for positioning ADX to facilitate market access to international dealers, market makers and authorized participants. In preparation to receive foreign investments when the UAE is classified as an emerging market, ADX will be strengthening the ETF market that would be attractive for tactical and beta allocation,” he added.
Other challenges cited include the absence of a comprehensive domestic regulatory framework for ETFs, whereas the market activity is not tightly regulated and the short selling is not legalized according the Ghanem.
"Up to the day when the regulations for Collective Investment Scheme are in place including provisions for fund administrators and liquidity providers, ADX will continue to accept listing UCITS compliant ETFs,” he revealed.
“What ADX seeks, is to provide investors with a platform that supports risk diversification products whereby ETFs would provide exposure to a particular market at a low cost and this is illustrated by the high correlation between the currently listed EFT and the UAE index, recording an increase of 17.8% in price during the third quarter of 2010, reflecting the appeal of this new investment vehicle,” Ghanem concluded.
Construction shares weigh on Abu Dhabi bourse
November 3, 2010--The ADX General index ended 0.07% lower at 2,761.75. Arkan Building Materials plummeted 6.22% to close at Dhs1.89.
Abu Dhabi Ship Building jumped 9.97% to finish at DhsDhs3.86.
Dubai stock markets lose slightly
November 3, 2010--The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) opened in the green on Wednesday, but eventually ended 0.37% lower at 6,349.38 points. Real estate and investment firms posted the largest declines. Union Properties lost 2.28% to finish at Dhs0.429, while investment company Almadina declined 1.65% to close at Dhs0.77.
At the Nasdaq Dubai, the FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 Index closed at 1837.700, down 0.12%, from the previous close. POrt operator DP World (up 0.51% at $0.595) and Depa Ltd. (gaining 1.43% at $0.71) advanced, while jewellery trader Damas closed unchanged at $0.16.
Qatar Exchange regains territory, ends at 7,799
November 3, 2010--After declining three consecutive days, the Qatari bourse QE closed 0.42% Wednesday, ending at 7,799.24 points.
The country's largest lender Qatar National bank (QNB) added 0.85% to finish at QR166.40. "Qatar's economy remains extremely favourable, as per IMF estimates, the Qatar GDP is expected to grow 16.0% in 2010 to reach QR294.8bn driven by the expansion in natural gas production", Kuwait's Global Investment House says.
Kuwait investment firm shares post losses
November 3, 2010--The KSE market index dipped 0.15% to close at 7,118.5. Osoul Investment Co. lost 8.4%, ending at KD0.054.
Dar Al Thuraya Real Estate Co. topped the charts, by gaining 9.8% (closing at KD0.028).
Tadawul bourse dragged down by petrochemicals
November 3, 2010--The Saudi Arabian stock market Tadawul declined 0.45% to close at 6,344.02. Market leder Sabic, the world's largest petrochemical firm, declined 0.76% to close at SR98.25.
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company declined 1.11% to finish at SR17.75.
Oil prices rise above $85 on Saudi signal
November 2, 2010--Oil prices rose above $85 a barrel on Tuesday, as traders tested the claim of Saudi Arabia, Opec's de facto leader, that it was happy with prices as high as $90 a barrel.
Saudi Arabia sparked a $2 jump in oil prices on Monday when Ali Naimi, its oil minister, raised the trading range it has backed for nearly two years, declaring that crude was in a "comfortable zone" of $70 to $90 a barrel. Mr Naimi's comments marked a subtle shift by the minister, who in the past had voiced satisfaction with the $70-$80 a barrel range that has prevailed for a year.
In late afternoon trading in New York on Tuesday, the rally continued, with Nymex December West Texas Intermediate up $1.23 to $84.17 a barrel. In London, ICE December Brent rose $1.08 to a three-week high of $85.70 a barrel.
First Gulf Bank shares buck regional downtrend
November 2, 2010--With 20 decliners and only three gaining shares, the ADX benchmark index ended the session on Tuesday 1.42% lower to close at 2,763.66 points. Investors dumped real estate shares, such as Aldar Properties (down 6.18% at Dhs2.40) or RAK Properties (3.92% lower at Dhs0.50).
Shares of First Gulf Bank (FGB), the UAE's fourth largest lender by assets, added 0.60% to finish at Dhs16.75. Credit Suisse issued a strong buy recommendation for FGB shares on October 27: "We expect FGB to maintain high profitability of some 20% return on equity in 2011E despite the very high capitalization levels (tier 1 20%, CAR 23.4%), and is still trading at 1x book value. We see room for multiples re-rating and thus maintain our Outperform rating and 12 month target price of Dhs28 per share", says Credit Suisse analyst Mohamad Hawa.
