Middle East News Older Than 1 year-If your looking for specific news, using the search function will narrow down the results
Dubai market finishes the week 0.79% lower
June 23, 2010--The DFM Index opened in the green but lost momentum and stabilized only during the last two hours of trading, ending 0.79% lower at 1,538.98 points. Shares of the DFM itself declined by 1.27% (closing at Dhs1.55. Due to low trading volumes and the absent of IPOs, the DFM stock lost 17 percent during the last six months.
A Credit Suisse Global Research report from today however notices that stock market corrections tend to be shorter and subsequent rebounds stronger as the world economy is in a recovery phase. Trading value increased by 10% to Dhs197.18m at the DFM and trading volumes surged 22% as almost 195m stocks changed hands. Emaar (off 2.10% at Dhs3.26) was the most liquid share.
UAE lenders lose over Dhs82bn in foreign funds
June 24, 2010--According to data by the UAE central bank, lenders in the country had lost more than Dhs82bn in foreign deposits through 2009 after some investors gave up hope of an appreciation of the dirham against the US dollar and others withdrew their funds to shore up liquidity shortage at home, Emirates Business has reported.
From around Dhs175.6bn at the end of 2008, foreign deposits with the UAE's 23 national banks and 28 foreign units slumped to nearly Dhs93.1bn at the end of 2009, a decline of Dhs82.5bn in just one year, the data showed.
Islamic banking looks to tap new markets
June 23, 2010--Even during the slowdown that resulted from the financial crisis many new branches of Islamic retail banks were opened worldwide. However, as a new e-friendly generation enters the scene, the industry will need to upgrade its services and distribution channels and expand into untapped markets to continue to grow.
On the search for a low-risk, non-interest and ethical way of investing, investors might regard Islamic finance, which is expected to reach $1 trillion globally in 2010, as a trustworthy alternative way of sheltering their savings from the rumbles of any financial crisis.
Islamic retail banks promise their clients all sorts of financing with Allah's blessing. However, in the Gulf, where two thirds of the roughly 40 million inhabitants are younger than 25, a new generation is entering the scene seeking not only adherence to religious principles but also to the modern tools needed for e-banking.
New DGCX FX products record healthy first week volumes
June 23, 2010--DGCX listed Australian Dollar/US Dollar (DAUD), Canadian Dollar/US Dollar (DCAD) and Swiss Franc/US Dollar (DCHF) futures contracts on June 15, 2010
Total of 881 AUD, CAD and CHF contracts were transacted in the first week of trading, valued at US $ 40 million
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) listed its new currency contracts on June 15 – Australian Dollar/US Dollar (DAUD), Canadian Dollar/US Dollar (DCAD) and Swiss Franc/US Dollar (DCHF) – amid healthy demand from participants.
The region’s strong appetite for currency products was evidenced in the first week of trading for the new contracts - a total of 881 of contracts, valued at US$ 40 million, were transacted during the opening week.
"Our wider currency offering provides participants with further financial tools to manage exchange rate volatility. The new contracts meet the hedging and investment requirements of participants, while also enabling them to gain exposure to the strong economic fundamentals of these currencies," Eric Hasham, Chief Executive Officer, DGCX, said.
Other currency contracts trading on the Exchange include Euro/US Dollar, Sterling/US Dollar, Yen/US Dollar and Indian Rupee/US Dollar futures contracts. Currencies have remained the fastest growing segment on DGCX with year-to-date volume rising 138%.
DGCX is the only futures Exchange outside of the US and Europe to offer the world’s six most liquid currency futures pairs. It is also the only Exchange in the region to offer currency futures with the added benefit of local clearing facilities which help safeguard participants against counterparty risk and guarantees settlement.
The new currency contracts can be traded from 8:30am to 11:30pm Dubai Time (4:30am to 7:30pm GMT and 12:30am to 3:30pm Eastern Time). The contracts are sized at CHF 50,000, AUD 50,000 and CAD 50,000, with the contract price quoted in US dollars. The minimum price fluctuation is US $0.0001 per contract, equivalent to a tick value of US $5 per contract. The first delivery month available for trading for all three contracts is September 2010.
Kuwait bourse dips 0.30%
June 23, 2010--The KSE Market or Price Index ended 0.30% lower at 6,653 points. Shares of Islamic bank Boubyan fell by 3.77% (closing at KD0.510) after market leader National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) said that it will not will not renew the licence to buy up to 60% of Boubyan's capital.
NBK currently hold 47% at Boubyan Bank, who is the largest shareholder in the UK's Islamic Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME).
Tadawul market without momentum
June 23, 2010--Saudi Arabia finished the week negatively. The Tasi composite ended 0.32% lower at 6,343.47 points, due to weak petrochemical shares. Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company e. g. lost 0.32% and ended at SR20.08
The cement sector was the only industry index which bucked the trend. The Tadawul market in Riyadh remains closed on Thursdays and Fridays.
Kuwait bourse dips 0.30%
Junbe 23. 2010--The KSE Market or Price Index ended 0.30% lower at 6,653 points. Shares of Islamic bank Boubyan fell by 3.77% (closing at KD0.510) after market leader National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) said that it will not will not renew the licence to buy up to 60% of Boubyan's capital.
NBK currently hold 47% at Boubyan Bank, who is the largest shareholder in the UK's Islamic Bank of London and The Middle East
Tadawul market without momentum
June 23, 2010--Saudi Arabia finished the week negatively. The Tasi composite ended 0.32% lower at 6,343.47 points, due to weak petrochemical shares.
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company e. g. lost 0.32% and ended at SR20.08. The cement sector was the only industry index which bucked the trend. The Tadawul market in Riyadh remains closed on Thursdays and Fridays.
Abu Dhabi exchange ADX ends unchanged
June 23, 2010--The ADX General Index ended flat at 2,551.39 points as investors missed several occasions in sustaining an index surge above the level of 2,554.00. Dana Gas advanced as the most liquid stock 2.90%, ending at Dhs0.71. The Sharjah-based firm's board of directors approved today a buy-back up to 10% of the company's share capital.
Banks weighed o the market, as the ADX Banking Index lost 0.52% and Sharjah Islamic Bank (off 2.38% at Dhs0.81) and National Bank of Umm al-Qaiwain (down 1.96% atDhs2.50) finished among the top losing securities.
Monthly Oil Market Report-June 2010-OPEC
June 22, 2010--Oil Market Highlights
The OPEC Reference Basket fell below $67/b on 25 May, the lowest level since early October 2009, underscoring market volatility as uncertainties about oil demand reemerged amid
disappointing macroeconomic data and concerns about the impact of Europe’s debt crisis. The OPEC Reference Basket averaged $74.48/b in May, down 9.5% from April while WTI front month
dropped 12% as the market turned bearish. Speculative activity on the crude futures market also
declined as money managers cut net long positions by almost 60% in May.
World economic growth for this year was revised up to 3.8% from 3.5% last month. The revision was mainly due to Japan, where strong exports to Asia resulted in a better than expected
performance in the first quarter. The country is now forecast to grow 2.7% in 2010, compared to a previous 1.5%. Growth for the Euro-zone was increased slightly to 0.7% from 0.6%, while the US
remained unchanged. China growth was left unchanged at 9.5%, while India was increased to 7.3% and Russia to 4.0%. While the global economy seems to be enjoying solid momentum in the first
half, concerns about growth in the second half remain due to Euro-zone sovereign debt problem, the
ability of China to avoid overheating and the still high unemployment in OECD countries.
World oil demand is expected to grow by 0.95 mb/d in 2010, unchanged from the previous month’s forecast. Recent data indicates that demand growth has been slightly higher than estimated in the first half of the year. However, an expected moderation in the pace of the economic recovery is likely to impact demand growth forecasts for the second half. Total demand growth is still expected to come from non-OECD as growth in the OECD is expected to remain negative. The estimate for 2009 world oil demand growth shows a marginal change from the previous assessment with a contraction of 1.5 mb/d.
Non-OPEC oil supply is projected to increase in 2010 by 0.64 mb/d over the previous year, following an upward revision of 0.11 mb/d from the last report. The estimate for 2009 non-OPEC supply growth remains unchanged at 0.74 mb/d. OPEC NGLs and nonconventional oils are expected to average 4.83 mb/d in 2010, an increase of 0.48 mb/d over the previous year. In May, OPEC crude oil production averaged 29.26 mb/d, according to secondary sources, an increase of 0.14 mb/d over the previous month.
