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Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange Weekly Views-August 8, 2010
August 8, 2010--
Commodities Overview
Commodities prices took a clearer direction last week, following a brief period of price consolidation. A surge in investor buying, perhaps atypical of this time of the year, helped push most commodities prices to multi-week and multi-month highs. Although fundamentals remain supportive of commodities in general,
it was more an investor rush to purchase these assets and not be left out of a rallying market than a major shift in supply and demand dynamics that influenced investor activity. As usual, as markets turn direction, investors follow. A weakening U.S. dollar also should not be left out of the equation. This week market participants are likely to filter through which commodities they would like to remain in and which ones they would like to take profits on. It should not be surprising if investors sentiment shifts broadly and commodities prices follow the same pattern. Gold prices may extend their rally early this week, with silver prices following suit.
Currencies Overview
Investors are rebalancing their portfolios based on a less monochromatic view of the world economy. They have swung from being massively bearish on U.S. financial and economic prospects in the middle of 2009 to being massively negative on European debt conditions in the second quarter of 2010 to having a more equivocating view of economic prospects. Europe is doing better than many thought it would. The United States and China are slowing down as had been expected. While some worry this is the beginning of a new recession, the consensus in the mainstream market appears to be that it is instead an inter-cyclical slow down, following the post recession recovery. Investors are seeking to balance their assets globally, which means that they are not favoring any one currency over others.
Investor Satisfaction At ADX On Positive Drive - Survey Results Reflect The Exchange’s Endeavors For Progress And Development
“We Are Carefully Looking Into All Investors’ Remarks And Proposals,” Rashed Al Baloushi
August 6, 2010--Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange today announced that the results of the Investor Satisfaction Survey that was wrapped up last week showed a satisfaction rate of 58.64% out of a total of 801 participating investors, indicating the success of the exchange’s development and improvement efforts.
ADX has launched the survey as from June 20, 2010 for one month up to July 20, 2010, to measure the satisfaction level among its investors and to identify the services and areas that need consideration or improvement within the framework of the exchange’s strategic objectives and plans.
UAE nationals constituted 43.5 per cent of the total participants while the remaining 56.5 per cent were foreigners according to the results, reflecting a better outcome, as higher foreign participation allows for comparisons with other exchanges.
“This is one of five surveys that ADX has launched in June to identify the satisfaction levels among all our customers including listed companies, brokers, custodians and registrars, in tandem with the directives of the leadership and the objectives outlined by Abu Dhabi’s Policy Agenda and Economic Vision 2030,” commented Rashed Al Baloushi, ADX’s Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Operations.
Kuwaiti stocks up over Agility acquittal
August 6, 2010--All main indices of the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) have gone up
with the price and weighted indexes hiking by 11.20 points, or 0.17 percent, and by 1.05 points, or 0.25 percent, respectively.
Profit-taking tactics keep TASI volatile
August 6, 2010-- Saudi shares were volatile last week due to conflicting reports about world recovery that prompted investors to resort to profit-taking tactics to avoid any unforeseen losses, analysts said.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) gained 0.54 percent last week, closing at 6,300.44 points.
Israeli ETF interest lags rest of BlackRock
"Institutions are being encouraged by the government to diversify outside of Israel," Fuhr said in an interview with Reuters. "But the Israeli market and currency are doing well ... When your home market is doing well, you have a home-market bias."
Saudi Arabia: Value of shares at $14.55b in July
A ban on BlackBerry in Saudi Arabia will affect only its Messenger text messaging service but an Aug. 6 deadline for its enforcement is final, a spokesman for the telecommunications regulator told Reuters on Wednesday.
DFM pares Tuesday's gains
Except the utilities sector, all sectors led by banking, financial, insurance, real estate and transportation ended in the red.
KSE index closes on gain of 16.5 pts
The loser indices were food and investment, shedding 39.5 and 1.1 points. Insurance was unchanged.
August 5, 2010-- Despite the rapid global growth in exchanged traded funds globally, their popularity remains low in Israel due to strong local markets, the head of global ETF research for BlackRock
Deborah Fuhr said there are some financial products in Israel called ETFs but they aren't funds, but rather notes or certificates.
Although Israelis have an affinity towards the United States, they largely prefer European products for reasons such as lower taxes, flexibility for currency trading and being in virtually the same time zone, she noted.
August 5, 2010-- Saudi Telecom Co (STC) shares fell after the Kingdom's regulator confirmed BlackBerry messenger will be banned from Friday, weighing on Saudi Arabia's index Tadawul All Share Index (TASI).
The index retreated 0.01 percent to 6,300.44 points on Wednesday's close.
STC fell 1.6 percent, taking its losses to 4.9 percent this week, while rival Etihad Etisalat ended flat to leave it down 4.3 percent since Sunday.
August 5, 2010--Dubai Financial Market (DFMDFM) all but wiped out Tuesday's gains with the benchmark DFMDFM General Index declining by 14.56 points, or 0.95 per cent, in Wednesday's trading.
Stocks looked for direction as volumes sharply dipped below the 43 million mark, from Tuesday's 80 million.
August 5, 2010---- Price index of Kuwait Stock Exchange ended the last day of trading this week on a gain of 16.5 points, to settle at 6,666.1 points, with 2,893 trades bringing value to KD 15.9 million and volume to 174.5 million shares.
The sector indices board saw closing with five slots green, two red, and one index unchanged. Top gainer was the services index on a gain of 79.1 points, followed by banking and the non-Kuwaiti companies indices, gaining 38.9 and 28.4 points.
