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Yemen oil revenues on the rise
August 17, 2010--According to the central bank of Yemen, oil revenues for the year have climbed to $1.132bn from $483.24m for the same period of 2009, Yemen Observer has reported.
The government share of January-May exports amounted to 14.46 million barrels at an average sales price of $78.28 per barrel. This compared with 10.16 million barrels at an average price of $47.56 per barrel for the first five months of 2009. The country's oil sector accounts for 92% of exports and 30% of GDP.
Kuwait stock exchange halts trading in 24 companies
August 17, 2010--The Kuwait Stock Exchange has halted trading in the shares of 24 companies for failing to publish their second-quarter earnings on time, Reuters has reported.
The 24 halted firms, most of which are investment companies, include Aref Investment Group, Kuwait Investment Co and Industrial Investments Co among others.
Qatar Exchange adds 0.29%
August 17, 2010--The QE Index extended its recovery from Monday, closing 0.29% higher at 7,062.83 points. Trading volumes shrank to some three million shares.Doha Insurance Group surged 2.15% to QR28.50.
The firm reported on Monday a net profit of QR41.1m in the first half of 2010, compared to a net profit of QR25.6m in the corresponding period in 2009.
Tadawul bourse ends flat at 6,161 points
August 17, 2010--Market bellwether and petrochemical giatn Sabic (up 1.46% at SR87.00) failed to lift the entire Tadawul benchmark TASI (unchanged at 6,161.76 points, as weak banks and insurers weighed on the market in Riyadh.
Saqr Insurance ended as the top losing stock, closing 3.04% lower at SR35.10. Alinma Banks was the second most liquid share (after Sabic). Alinma lost 0.46%, finishing near a 52-week low at SR10.85.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ninth Development Plan
August 16, 2010--The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ninth Development Plan (2010-2014) is a second five-year plan in a series of long-term development strategies aimed at achieving a comprehensive socioeconomic vision by 2024. The Kingdom remained committed to accelerating the development process and has enhanced its next five year spending plan (2010-2014) by 67.2% from SR863.9bn (US$230.3bn) in Eighth Development Plan to SR1,444.6bn (US$385.2bn) in Ninth Plan.
The government continues to support its sectoral development with highest sector contribution of around 51.0% allocated to Human Resources Development that was followed by Social and Health Development spending constituting 19.0% of the total sector allocations.
The Kingdom's economic expansion continued to record real GDP growth of 0.6% and 4.2% in 2009 & 2008, respectively. Under the Ninth Development Plan (2010-2014), KSA economy is expected to record average annual real GDP growth of 5.2% with economic output to increase from SR855.7bn (US$228.2bn) in 2009 to SR1,101.2bn (US$293.6bn) in 2014. On macroeconomic front, the Kingdom's Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) is expected to remain strong recording an average annual growth rate of 10.4% resulting in a share of 38.5% of GDP in 2014.
The diversification of the economy remains one of the top priorities of the government. The Kingdom's efforts to decrease its dependence on oil resources seem to have shown encouraging results over the last few years. The contribution from non-oil sector to GDP increased to 77.1% in 2009 as compared to 73.5% in 2004. The next five year plan envisages further increase in proportion of non-oil sector contribution to GDP to reach around 81.3% by 2014. Over the projected five years, the private sector is expected to record growth of 38.5% till 2014 and will remain dominated by financial, insurance, business & real-estate services (14.7% of GDP).
Saudi Tadawul market dips a quarter percent
August 16, 2010- The TASI-Index ended on Monday at 6,158.04 points (off 0.24%), despite oil prices stabilising around $75 per barrel. Little trading movements were seen as 21 shares stocks ended flat and just 64.9m shares changed hands.
Aldrees Petroleum and Transport Services Co. posted the largest advance, ending four percent higher at SR46.30. As at most GCC bourses, no clear direction was seen among the sector indices, while investors prefer to stay on the sidelines before the US will publish the producer price index on Wednesday.
Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange Weekly Views-August 15, 2010
August 15, 2010--Commodities Overview
Commodity prices reflected the broader weakness in investor optimism this week. Industrial commodities showed vulnerability to declines, while gold and silver rose as investors moved back toward portfolio diversifiers and safe havens. While gold and silver remained within recent price ranges, they moved toward the higher ends of these ranges.
There has been net buying as investors move out of equities and interest bearing assets. Industrial commodities may remain under pressure this week and beyond. Prices may not decline sharply from current levels, but investors will seek to avoid commodities whose prices are tied to rising economic output. The fact that real economic growth is continuing in most parts of the world will provide a counter to the negative attitudes behind the investor selling.
Currencies Overview
The world is marking down economic prospects. We have written about the battle between overly pessimistic economic viewpoints and a reality that shows a weak but sustainable economy. These struggles have been the push and pull in the markets over the past two months. The problem for the global economy is that opinions often become self-fulfilling prophesies, as people act on their expectations. That is happening now. Consumers, businesses, banks, and investors are pulling in their reins, with the result that business activity is slowing more dramatically than had been expected. Final demand, real economic activity, and financial markets are ratcheting down.
Kuwait Stock Exchange dips slightly
August 15, 2010--The KSE Market Index ended 0.19% lower at 6,658.6 points as investors mostly sold real estate firms and investment companies. International Financial Advisors (IFA) plummeted 6.15% to KD0.061.
Bahrain's Gulf Finance House and Gulf Bank of Kuwait took a break of their recent advances and ended flat at KD0.042 and KD0.465, respectively. United Gulf Bank continued its rally by adding 5.26%, finishing at KD0.300.
Dubai market weakens 0.45%
August 15, 2010--Following a weak debut of the third week of August in Riyadh in Sunday (where the Tadawul bourse lost 1.1%), the DFM General Index closed at 1,465.59 points (off 0.45%) amid continuing worries about a global economic "double-dip".
Bellwether Emaar Properties finished 0.32% lower at Dhs3.12. while shares of Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) ended flat at Dhs1.87. DIB, the oldest regulated Islamic bank (founded in 1975) reported for the second quarter a net profit for Dhs310m, a 50% quarter-on-quarter increase. Traded value dipped 37% to Dhs38.07m and volumes declined by 28% as 34.2m as stocks changed hands at the DFM.
August 2010 Monthly Oil Report-OPEC
August 13, 2010--Oil Market Highlights
The OPEC Reference Basket in July moved within a range of $70-75/b to average $72.51/b for the month, down 44¢ from the previous month. The modest decline was mainly attributed to Middle
Eastern crudes which fell amid ample supply. Uncertainties kept crude oil futures within a $70-80/b
range. Nymex WTI front month rose almost $1 to average $76.38/b while ICE Brent edged down 30¢ to $75.36/b.
Oil prices continued to be driven mainly by macroeconomic sentiment reflected in equities and exchange rate fluctuations as well as speculative activity. The Basket surged at the end
of July before drifting lower to stand at $73.73/b on 12 August.
World GDP growth in 2010 is estimated at 3.9%, only marginally above last month, reflecting improvement in the numbers for the Euro-zone and Brazil in 1H10. The 2011 forecast remains unchanged at 3.7%. The world economy is facing increasing headwinds that will slow the growth momentum going forward. Challenges within OECD include high unemployment, weak private demand, problems in the US housing sector, and in some countries, unsustainably high sovereign debt burdens. In China, government efforts to reign in excesses in property markets appear to be successful and growth is moderating to more sustainable levels.
Given the recent strength in US consumption, OECD oil demand in the second quarter managed to move to a growth mode for the first time since 2007. The forecast for world oil demand growth in 2010 has been revised up by 0.1 mb/d to 1.0 mb/d or 1.2%. In 2011, world oil demand growth is expected to continue at the current level of 1.0 mb/d, unchanged from the previous report. As in the current year, the growth in oil demand is expected to come from the non- OECD, mainly China, India, the Middle East and Latin America, with demand concentrated in the industrial, transportation and petrochemicals sectors.
