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Bahrain market only GCC gainer on Wednesday
August 11, 2010--The Bahrain All Share Index gained insignificantly and closed at 1,409.19 points. Shares of Ithmaar Bank surged 4.55% to $0.115. Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) ended flat at $1.49. ABG reported that net income increased by 3% to reach $95m and total operating income by 2% to reach $307m in the first six months of 2010.
The bank continued to expand carefully and launched operations in Syria with the establishment of Al Baraka Bank Syria. The capital of Al Baraka Bank Syria is Syrian pounds 5bn ($100m).
Qatar Exchange adds 0.12%
August 10, 2010--The Qatar Exchange closed at 7,126.10 points. Barwa Real Estate (gaining 0.32% at QR31.20) was the most liquid stock in relation to trading volumes. The Doha-based bourse announced today ath official business hours during the month of Ramadan will be from 8:30 AM till 1:30 PM, Sunday through Thursday.
Trading hours will continue as usual from 10:00AM to 12:30 PM with a pre-opening session starting at 9:30AM and ending at 10:00AM.
Bahrain Stock Exchange gains half a percent
August 10, 2010--Manama's stock market continued ist recovery and closed 0.50% higher at 1,407.87 points. Bahrain Telecommunications Co. (Batelco) finished 2.80% higher at BD0.550. Gulf Finance House (GFH) closed unchanged at $0.14, contrary to the Dubai Financial Market where its shares gained 3.65%.
GFH announced today it has reached formal agreement with the German WestLB syndicate for a S$100m Murabaha Facility Agreement. The agreement is for a two year period with an additional one year term at GFH's option i.e. up to three years in total at a reduced profit rate.
Tadawul market posts largest decline on Tuesday
August 10, 2010--The Saudi Arabian stock exchange finished as the worst performer in the GCC by ending 0.85% lower at 6,264.01 points. Astra Industrial Group posted the highest profit on Monday and finished 1.83% higher at SR39.10. On its second day of trading at the Tadawul bourse, shares of Knowledge Economic City (KEC) were the most liquid and finished 2.91% lower at SR9.95.
Nevertheless, Josef Schuster, founder and CEO of IPOX Schuster in Chicago judges the IPO as a progress in the GCC capital markets' development. "The positive reception to the Knowledge Economic City IPO underlines the positive momentum in Saudi Arabian IPOs with 75% of this year's deals trading substantially above the first close", Schuster says. "The small initial gain should encourage more widespread buying of the stock in regular trading going forward". KEC stocks were issued at SR10 in May in a SR1bn ($272m) going public and closed at SR10.30 on its first trading day on Monday. This was the fifth IPO in KSA in 2010, according to Schuster.
Saudi Arabia- Second ETF launched & open to investors
August 9, 2010--Sources revealed that Saudi Arabia's Tadawal stock exchange has launched its second Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) this year, which will be open to foreign investors. The Sources revealed that Saudi Arabia's Tadawal stock exchange has launched its second Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) this year, which will be open to foreign investors.
The sources familiar with the matter said that both ETF's will not accept
individual stock purchases. Non-resident foreigners were previously limited to trading through share swap transactions.
Both ETF's were launched by Falcom, with the second one focusing mainly on the petrochemical sector with Saudi Basic Industries Company leading the 14- stock portfolio..
Markets rebound in July, says Markaz
August 9, 2010--GCC markets turned positive in July as corporate earnings lifted sentiment in addition to positive reports from rating agencies. GCC markets gained 5% for the month, bringing the YTD gain to 4%. The MSCI GCC index underperformed emerging markets and BRIC for the month but is outperforming the indices on a yearly basis. All GCC markets saw gains, except Bahrain which shed 0.17%.
Gains were led by Kuwait's Weighted Index which was up 5.5% for the month.
As for corporate earnings, Gulf Bank swung to a profit of KD2m after posting losses in the same period of the previous year. NBK posted a 10% growth in second quarter earnings and provisions of $81m for the same period. In the UAE, NBAD and First Gulf Bank saw 1H10 earnings growths of 21% and 12%, respectively, while Emirates NBD saw earnings decline 29% in the same period. While in Saudi Arabia, Blue Chips gained despite poor results; Al Rajhi Bank and Samba Financial Group gained 6% and 5%, respectively, despite 1H10 earnings declines of 1% and 3%, respectively.
Tadawul market declines slightly
August 9, 2010-The Saudi Arabian bourse ended 0.10% lower at 6,317.67 points due to weak performing real estate developers and insurance firms. In a rare event in Riyadh, Sabic (up 0.85% at SR89.00) was not the most liquid stock but the newly listed Knowledge Economic City (KEC).
On its first day of trading, KEC ended at SR10.30, following its Sr1bn ($272m) IPO from May at SR10 per share. The Madinah-based KEC aims to be the core education centre in Saudi Arabia. Its total investment upon completion is SR30bn ($8bn).
Gulf Bank of Kuwait remains top performing stock
August 9, 2010--The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) closed at 6,693.8 points (up 0.47%). Shares of Gulf Bank of Kuwait (GBK), the second largest commercial bank in the Northern Gulf state, continued its rally, ending 3.33% higher at KD0.465. GBK stocks gained 60% on a year to date basis.
The market leader Naitional Bank of Kuwait (NBK) also added 3.33% and finished at KD1.240.
Qatar Exchange stabilises
August 9, 2010--Doha-based Qatar Exchange (QE) added 0.09% and finished at 7,117.25 points. Industries Qatar (IQ) rose to a seven-week high closing at QR103.00 (up 0.49%) and finishing a chart technical w-formation.
Qatar Petrochemical Company a subsidiary of I IQ opened recently a logistics hub in Tripoli in the North of Lebanon. Trading volumes surged by 42% as 3.8m shares changed hands in Doha.
Abu Dhabi bourse decline continues
August 9. 2010-The ADX market failed to join the general positive trend at GCC markets and ended 0.64% lower at 2,511.45 points, falling for the fourth consecutive trading day. Real estate bellwether Aldar Properties weakened to Q1 2009 levels at Dhs2.15 (down3.67%).
Green Crescent Insurance Co. topped the charts, gaining 9.43% to Dhs0.58. Its rival Sorouh Real Estate added 0.60%, finishing at Dhs1.64. Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., dubbed Taqa, (Arabic for energy) bucked the trend by gaining 0.83%, ending at Dhs1.24.
