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Qatar Telecom eyes more bond issues
October 13, 2010--The Qatar Exchange (QE) Index ended 0.92% higher at 7,827.55. Shares of Qatar Telecom gained 0.87%, finishing at QR173.50. Qtel International Finance Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qtel), announced that following the high levels of demand from the international fixed income investor community for its recent bond issuance,
and the attractive pricing levels achieved, the Company has decided to undertake a further issuance under its Global Medium Term Note Programme. Qtel's recent $1.5 billion bond sale was more than ten times oversubscribed, as bids exceeded $15 billion a week ago.
OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report -October 2010
October 13, 2010--Oil Market Highlights
The OPEC Reference Basket increased a further 48¢ in September to average $74.63/b, the
highest since April. The futures market saw mixed patterns. Nymex WTI front month averaged $75.55/b, down $1.12 from August, while ICE Brent rose for the second month in a row, gaining
$1.30 to $78.42/b. In early October, improvement in macroeconomic data and the weaker dollar supported the market, pushing the OPEC Basket above $81/b for the first time since early May. WTI
recovered to move beyond $83/b and ICE Brent reached more than $85/b. On 11 October, the Basket stood at $80.44/b.
The world economy continues to expand at below-average levels. The global growth forecasts
remain unchanged at 3.9% for 2010 and 3.6% for 2011. The US forecast stands at 2.6% in 2010
and 2.3% in 2011, in line with the previous report. Japan’s forecast was revised up 0.3 points to
2.8% in 2010, but remained unchanged at 1.3% in 2011. The Euro-zone is forecast to grow at 1.2%
in 2010 and 1.0% in 2011, unchanged from the previous month. China and India are expected to
continue their growth. So far, China has been successful in cooling down its economy with growth
expectations at 9.5% in 2010 and 8.6% in 2011. India is forecast to grow by 8.2% in 2010 and 7.7%
in 2011.
World oil demand growth in 2010 now stands at 1.1 mb/d, following an upward revision of 0.1 mb/d from the previous report, driven by the stronger-than-expected, stimulus-led economic growth in the first half of the year. Despite some turbulence and setbacks, the global economic recovery continues to provide support for oil consumption. While oil demand in the third quarter has been supported by warm summer weather along with the driving season, however, it is not expected to be as strong as in the previous two quarters. The recovery in industrial activities has positively affected industrial fuel demand across the globe. In 2011, global oil demand is forecast to grow by 1.0 mb/d, unchanged from the last month, with demand growth anticipated to be stronger in the second half of the year.
view OPEC Monthly Oil Report-October 2010
Rising domestic power demand to boost alternative energy projects in KSA
October 12, 2010-- Power demand in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is rising by eight percent per year and is expected to triple in the coming years .
Power consumption is expected to increase from an estimated 179TWh in 2009 to 208TWh by the end of 2014, with a growing power generation surplus, assuming 5.1 percent average annual growth (2010-2014) in electricity generation . These factors have propelled the expansion of numerous power projects, which includes the use of alternative energy resources.
Kuwait market bucks global downtrend
October 12, 2010--Thanks to advances in the financial and real estate sector, the KSE Market or Price Index added 0.66% to finish at 7,054.7 points.
Islamic insurer First Takaful Insurance Co., one of the worst performers in 2010 (as yet), posted the leargest gain (up 11.62% at KD0.096).
Qatar bourse weakens 0.94%
October 12, 2010--Shares lost value across the board in Doha, dragging the QE Index down by 0.94% to 7,756.27
Investors took profist in bank shares in particular, e.g. at Qatar Islamic Bank (down 0.72% at QR82) after the share hit an 11-month high last week.
Tadawul exchange weakens slightly
October 12. 2010--The Saudi Arabian Tadawul exchange closed 0.38% lower at 6,343.86 points, as its bellwether Sabic ended weaker (off 0.55% at SR90.25) Shares of Alinma Bank declined 0.46% to close at SR10.80.
Alinma Bank reported interim consolidated financial results: net income for the third quarter amounted to SR20m, compared to net income of SR39m for the same quarter of previous year with a decrease of 49%, and compared to a net income of SR3m for the previous quarter with a increase of 567%. ".The decrease in net income for the period compared to last year was mainly due to lower yield on investments and higher operating expenses related to new branches and ATMs", Alinma Bank said addressing shareholders.
Egypt plans to issue Islamic debt guidelines next year
October 12, 2010--Egypt's Financial Supervisory Authority has said the country plans to issue its first Islamic debt guidelines in 2011, to catch up with the GCC and Southeast Asia regions and help spur sales, Bloomberg has reported.
"The target of issuing these regulations is to help companies that want to issue sukuk," Ziad Bahaa El-Din, chairman of the authority said. "Right now, we don't have a framework to help anybody who wants to issue sukuk."
Bahrain exchange stays on the bullish track
October 12, 2010--Despite a regional and global stutter mode at markets on Tuesday, the BSE in Manama gained 0.84%, finishing at 1,472.51.
United Gulf Bank jumped 10% to close at BD0.462. No share lost value as 90% of listed stocks were not traded.
Gulf Finance House And Tunisian Government Launch North Africa’s First Offshore Financial Centre
October 11, 2010--Gulf Finance House (”GFH”), the Bahrain based Islamic investment bank, and the Tunisian government today launched North Africa’s first offshore financial centre as part of Tunis Financial Harbour, a US$3 billion mixed use waterfront development which will provide the physical infrastructure for the planned offshore financial centre.
At a reception for financial services institutions and policy specialists in Washington, DC, USA, held during the International Monetary Fund’s (”IMF”) Annual Meeting, GFH senior management and the Governor of the Tunisian Central Bank briefed attendees on the project as well as the development of Tunisia’s financial services regulatory environment. Tunis Financial Harbour will offer a bridge between the US$15 billion EU trade bloc, Tunisia’s own dynamic economy and rapidly developing North African and sub-Saharan economies.
Tunis Financial Harbour will further develop Tunisia’s vibrant economy, by offering world class commercial infrastructure and an array of modern waterfront living for financial services institutions seeking access to the opportunities Tunisia offers as a strategic gateway between Europe and Africa. The development is projected to have a permanent population of 110,000 residents across its 500 hectares and will create 16,000 jobs for the Tunisian economy.
Mr. Esam Janahi, Executive Chairman, Gulf Finance House, said, “Tunis Financial Harbour will be North Africa’s first off shore financial services centre. Tunisia’s strategic location means that it is the natural base for a financial services hub to cater for the growing demand for financial products and services created by the growth of not only the Tunisian economy but also African economies and international investment flows into the country. Tunis Financial Harbour will offer a world class centre for financial service institutions to base their operations whilst offering a range of modern, waterfront lifestyle options for employees and residents. Tunis Financial Harbour builds on our strategy of creating the economic infrastructure to support the development of economies and societies across the Middle East and we are proud to be partnering with the Tunisian government to support their national objectives.”
Mr. Taoufik Baccar, Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, added, “We have a clear strategy of establishing Tunis as a leading regional financial services centre. Our policies have created an ever more open and liberal market environment which has seen the growth of our economy. In parallel with the development of a world leading financial services regulatory environment, we are now working with GFH to create the region’s first off shore financial services centre that will offer a high quality location for businesses to locate to and for employees and residents to live.”
Equities traded at NASDAQ up 31% in first nine months of 2010
October 11, 2010--The value of equities traded on NASDAQ Dubai increased by 31% in the first nine months of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009, from US$722 million to US$948 million.
Volume fell by 13% from 2.32 billion shares to 2.02 billion. For both value and volume, this was the strongest performance by any UAE stock exchange over the nine-month period, measured by percentage change.
NASDAQ Dubai outsourced its trading, settlement, clearing and custody functions for equities to Dubai Financial Market on July 11, 2010, as part of a strategy to increase trading of its equities by individual investors and bring them together in one liquidity pool with institutional investors.
UAE brokers have increased their share of trading of NASDAQ Dubai equities since the outsourcing. In September, the most active broker by volume was Al Futtaim HC Securities, followed by Deutsche Bank and then EFG Hermes. Equities traded value on NASDAQ Dubai reached 90 million dollars in September 2010, down 33% from September 2009. Volume for the month reached 168 million shares, down 36%.
The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 index rose strongly in September 2010 to end the month at 1,768, up 14% from the end of August. Since the start of the year the index has lost 4.5%.
The index tracks 20 liquid stocks listed on DFM, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and NASDAQ Dubai. It has been designed as a hedging and investment mechanism for GCC and international investors.
