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.
Source: Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange (DGCX)
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.
Source: AME Info
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.
Source: AME Info
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.
Source: OPEC
Dubai market sinks to 1,472 points
August 12, 2010--The DFM Index lost 0.71% on Thursday and 6.56% since the closing of last week. Financials and transport firms were the major losers today, with Sharjah-based budget carrier Air Arabia (off 2.55% at Dhs0.803).
Shares of Islamic real estate developer Deyaar bucked the trend, closing 0.33% higher at Dhs0.307. Deyaar reported today a net loss of Dhs243m for the second quarter of 2010, down from a profit of Dhs75.332m in Q2 2009. The company's gross revenues for the three months ending June 30, 2010, stood at Dhs79.7m. Shares of Nasdaq-Dubai listed Dubai Ports (DP) World declined 2.68% to $0.472. Some 47.3m shares changed hands.
Source: AME Info
Qatar bourse loses half a percent
August 12, 2010--The Qatar Exchange (QE) closed 0.56% lower at 7,064.50 points as the index fell by 0.96% over the week. The Central Bank of Qatar (CBQ) has cut its overnight deposit rate by 50 basis points to 1.5%, Reuters-Thomson reported.
Doha Bank, together with only four other listed securities, gained against the trend and finished 0.22% higher at WR45.60. According to EFG Hermes Chief Economist Monika Malik, "there are tentative signs of an increase in credit to sectors such as construction, which we believe is largely linked to (Qatari) government."
Source: AME Info
Saudi index posts largest decline in seven weeks
August 12, 2010--udi Arabia's stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) dropped 1.21 percent on Wednesday to close at 6,187.97 - its largest decline since June 29.
Further losses are forecast as the Kingdom's bourse tracked stuttering world markets and oil.
Source: Zawya
DGCX Indian Rupee Futures Contract Achieves Another Record Day
August 12, 2010--Trading in the DGCX Indian Rupee/Dollar futures contract reached another all time daily high yesterday (August 11th, 2010) in terms of both the volume and value traded.
2,303 contracts
$98.26 million notional value
The Indian Rupee futures contract continues to attract more interest and participation month on month, as market participants become aware of its unique offering as the only Indian Rupee futures contract available for trading and hedging outside of India. Furthermore, the contract is cash settled based on the US Dollar reference rate published by the Reserve Bank of India on the last day of trading.
Source: Dubai Gold & Commodites Exchange (DGCX )
Value of Nasdaq Dubai trading rises 9% after outsourcing
August 11, 2010--The value of equities traded on Nasdaq Dubai rose 9 per cent in the first four weeks following its operations outsourcing to Dubai Financial Market.
The value of equities traded on Nasdaq Dubai rose 9 per cent in the first four weeks following its operations outsourcing to Dubai Financial Market (DFM), compared to the same period of 2009.
The value reached $51.3 million, up from $47 million. The proportion accounted for by individual investors, as opposed to institutions, also increased.
Volume in the four-week period, beginning on July 11 2010, fell by 18 per cent to 107 million shares, from 131 million the year before.
Measured by percentage change, the figures for both total value and total volume were the best performing of any UAE stock exchange over that period.
Source: Gulf News
Invesco launches offshore latin american equity fund
August 11, 2010--Invesco today announced the launch of a new fund, the Invesco Latin American Equity Fund, available to offshore investors and managed by fund manager Dean Newman, who has 24 years' experience investing in the region.
Invesco opened its Dubai based Middle East operations in September 2005 and has a license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to operate from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) as an authorised firm.
Recently, the inaugural Invesco Middle East Asset Management Study revealed that Middle East investors are increasingly focusing towards emerging markets across the world including Latin America.
Source: AME Info