Middle East ETF News Older than One Year
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.
Source: Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX)
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).
Source: AME Info
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.
Source: AME Info
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
Source: AME Info
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.
Source: AME Info
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.
Source: AME Info
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.
Source: OPEC
Fitch: UAE banks' asset quality and liquidity pressures manageable
June 22, 2010--Fitch Ratings says in a special report today that the UAE banking sector's strong capitalisation should make its current challenges manageable despite rising impairments and difficult operating conditions. As such, Fitch believes that fresh government support for the sector is less likely to be required.
"The first half of 2010 has been difficult for the UAE's banks, with rising retail and corporate impairments, debt restructuring at Dubai government-related entities (GREs), reduced lending appetite and stubbornly high loan/deposit ratios resulting in some stagnation in the sector. The sector's capitalisation remains sound and should be sufficient to absorb the likely impact of the well-publicized problems of certain Dubai GREs and the Saudi corporates Saad and Al Gosaibi," says Robert Thursfield, a Dubai-based Director in Fitch's Financial Institutions team.
The UAE banking sector's profitability suffered in 2009 as the global economic crisis impacted the region more significantly and year-on-year comparatives in Q1 2010 were generally disappointing, although core interest and fee revenues are holding up relatively well. Impairment charges are still rising on both retail and corporate portfolios and with Dubai World (DW), other GREs and the remainder of the troubled Saudi corporates' exposures to provide for, sector profitability in 2010 is unlikely to exceed the 2009 level.
Source: AME Info
Confidence up among Gulf business leaders - HSBC
During the past year, business leaders said they were confident of an upturn in revenue and profit and the index rose 20 points in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2009.
There has been a slight increase in hiring trends, with 39 percent of leaders surveyed saying they expect to increase staff numbers this quarter, compared to 37 percent in Q4 2009.
Source: arabianbusiness.com
Yuan-euphoria stops at Tadawul bourse
Beijing's decision to de-peg the as undervalued considered Yuan (against the Dollar) triggered a rally in Riyadh at the start of the week because the Saudi Riyal is pegged to the greenback, and a stronger Yuan would mean a higher export value for the GCC to China. Ann Wyman, Managing Director and Head of Emerging Marker Research at Nomura Saudi Arabia however told AME Info that the GCC is only indirectly affected by the Yuan re-valuation. Ann Wyman: "In relation to trade, while a modest appreciation of the Yuan against the USD would help export competitiveness on the margin, the move is not likely to be large enough to result in any major shifts in export performance in the region." Wyman added that, "while some may draw an analogy of currency flexibility in China with the Middle East, we still see no scope for movement on currency pegs in the region. Inflation remains low, and there are limited pressures for revaluation in any countries."
Source: AME Info
June 22, 2010--Confidence among the Gulf’s business community has risen over the last year, with Saudi business leaders proving to be the most upbeat, according to the latest HSBC Gulf Business Confidence Index released on Thursday.
June 22, 2010--Lower oil prices and profit taking triggered the Tadawul All Share index (TASI) to fall by 1.35% to 6,363.55 points. Petrochemical shares in particular weighed on the market. Market bellwether Sabic closed at SR91.75 (off 3.42%). Credit Suisse Research warned on Sunday that the recent price increase in oil might be halted at the technical resistance level of $77 per barrel.
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