Mideast funds more wary on Saudi after market surge, bullish on Egypt
March 29, 2018--Middle East fund managers have become more cautious about ploughing additional money into Saudi Arabian equities after the market jumped on expectations that it would be included in global indexes, a monthly Reuters poll showed on Thursday.
Source: Zawya.com
FTSE to upgrade Kuwait to emerging market in two stages
March 28, 2018--Kuwait's stock market will enter FTSE Russell's emerging marketindex in two equal stages in September and December this year, and 10 Kuwaiti stocks currently look likely to join the benchmark, the company said on Wednesday.
Source: Zawya.com
MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf markets subdued as investors take stock of missile attacks
March 26, 2018--Stock exchanges in the Gulf were mainly subdued early on Monday as investors digested news of missiles fired overnight at Saudi Arabia, the region's largest economy.
Source: Zawya.com
Saudi stocks drop at opening after kingdom shoots down missiles
March 26, 2018--Saudi Arabia's main stock index dropped by 0.5 percent at opening on Monday as investors were spooked by news of missiles fired overnight into the kingdom.
Source: Zawya.com
Kuwait's Silk City is key project in China's One Belt One Road initiative
March 22, 2018--Kuwait's Silk City and the five-island developments are a key project in the One Belt One Road initiative, and will strengthen Kuwait-China relations, said Mr. Jiang Zengwei-Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC).
In a keynote address at the Kuwait Investment Forum (KIF 2018), Mr. Jiang Zengwei said Kuwait was one of the first GCC nations to have diplomatic ties with China and relations between the two countries have strengthened over the years. He said the One Belt One Road initiative complements Kuwait's Vision 2035 in fostering development in several core sectors.
Source: AMEInfo.com
Qatar Stock Exchange welcomes the largest Islamic ETF in the World by Al Rayan
March 21, 2018--Al Rayan Qatar ETF (QATR) commenced trading today with initial assets in excess of 120 million USD
Al Rayan Investment will operate the ETF which tracks the price performance of the QE Al Rayan Islamic Index.
The ETF has the lowest management fee of any Shari'a-compliant fund globally
Qatar Stock Exchange today admitted to trading the Al Rayan Qatar ETF under the symbol "QATR". To mark the launch of the ETF, the exchange today welcomed the fund's founder, Masraf Al Rayan,and fund manager,Al Rayan Investment, to open trading in Doha. The Fund will track the QE Al Rayan Islamic Index (Price) which is comprised of large and medium sized, Shari'a-compliant, listed Qatari companies.
The Al Rayan Qatar ETF becomes the largest single-country Islamic ETF in the world and is the latest addition to QSE's burgeoning exchange-traded fund lineup.
Source: Qatar Stock Exchange
Economic Growth in Gulf Region Set to Improve following a Weak Performance in 2017
March 19, 2018--The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region witnessed another year of disappointing economic performance in 2017 but growth should improve in 2018 and 2019, according to the World Bank's biannual Gulf Economic Monitor released today in Kuwait.
The region eked out growth of just 0.5% in 2017-the weakest since 2009 and down from 2.5% the previous year. The GCC region’s economies experienced flat or declining growth as lower oil production and tighter fiscal policy took a toll on activity in the non-oil sector. External debt issuance continued to rise to help finance large fiscal deficits.
Source: World Bank
Listing And Trading Of Al Rayan Qatar ETF On Qatar Stock Exchange ETF ON QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE
March 19, 2018--Qatar Stock Exchange announces that effective 21st March 2018, the Al Rayan Qatar ETF will be admitted to trading.
The Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) issued by Masraf Al Rayan tracks the QE Al Rayan Islamic Index (Price). The benchmark measures the price performance of Shari'a complaint stocks (as approved by Al Rayan's Shari'a Supervisory Board) listed on Qatar Stock Exchange.
The Group Securities will act as the Liquidity Provider (LP) for the ETF.
Source: Qatar Stock Exchange
MIDEAST STOCKS-Milaha boosts Qatar before index entry, Al Rajhi pulls down Saudi
March 15, 2018--A surge by Qatar Navigation (Milaha) lifted the Qatari equity index on Thursday ahead of the stock's entry into FTSE indexes, while profit-taking in Al Rajhi Bank pulled down Riyadh.
Qatar's index climbed 1.1 percent as Milaha added 4.0 percent in unusually heavy trade.
Source: Zawya.com
From Now, it Will be Cheaper for Companies to Make Issuances on TASE
March 14, 2018--On March 13, 2018 a tax bill passed its final hearings in the Knesset, whereby issuance expenses are to be recognized and deductible for tax purposes.
The bill proposes that every company or partnership that issues equity and is listed on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) will be able to deduct the issuance expenses of shares or participation units that are listed on TASE.
This measure is expected to provide more Israeli companies with an incentive to go public, giving the Israeli public the opportunity to be part of the success of the Israeli companies.
Source: TASE