Middle East ETF News Older than One Year
Batelco, bank shares weigh on Bahrain Bourse
September 12, 2011--After a hopeful recovery at the start of September, the Bahrain Bourse declined 0.42%, finishing at 1,265.49 points. Bahrain Telecommunications was the most actively traded shares, closing one percent lower at BD0.396.
On Sunday, Batelco announced that along with Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) "that its consortium to purchase Zain Kuwait's 25% stake in Zain Saudi Arabia anticipates completing due diligence by the end of September 2011." Shares of Bahrain Islamic Bank posted the largest decline (off 3.96%), while Khaleej Commercial Bank gained 2.50%. [AMEInfo.com]
Source: AME Info
Dubai Mercantile Exchange Sets New Trading Record in August
Monthly total trading volumes reach new all-time high for second consecutive month
September 12, 2011--The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME) announced today that it has continued to build on recent strong performances with a new monthly trading record in August 2011.
Trading of its benchmark Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract (DME Oman) for the month totalled 95,440 contracts or approximately 95.4 million barrels – its highest since the trading on the Exchange commenced in June 2007 and a 7.8 per cent increase over the previous record, set a month earlier.
This new record reinforces DME Oman’s status as the largest physically delivered crude oil contract in the world, underscoring to market participants the benefit of robust price discovery through direct linkage to true market supply and demand fundamentals.
Source: Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME)
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange Weekly Market Commentary-September 11, 2011
September 11, 2011-- Economic Data Overview
The September 12 week will see a number of important economic data releases that mainly focus on consumer spending, inflation, and the manufacturing sector. There will also be some fresh data on consumer confidence, as well as a few numbers that will help fill out expectations for growth in the third quarter.
The data on retail sales for August on Wednesday could surprise a little to the upside, but on the whole it is not likely to be a stellar performance. Sales of motor vehicles were decent in the month.
Prices for gasoline declined, and should cut into sales at service stations. Back-to-school shopping was lacklustre, but demand for emergency supplies related to large severe weather events could boost some categories like building materials. Worried consumers were cautious about discretionary spending, such as restaurant meals or entertainment.
On balance, retail sales should be little changed from the prior month.
Inflation numbers will be released on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
More stable prices for oil and food will mean less uncertainty behind the forecasts, but the three indicators this week will reflect that in different ways.
The Import and Export Prices Indexes for August is due on Tuesday. Increases in import prices will probably be moderate due to only a small change in petroleum costs, and smaller increases in items like foods and motor vehicles. Export prices should benefit from favourable exchange rates and demand for agricultural products.
The Producer Price Index for August on Wednesday should reflect further moderation in input costs, particularly in the easing of supply constraints related to the earthquake in Japan. Costs of a few commodities may still be on the rise, like gold, cotton, and tobacco.
The Consumer Price Index for August on Thursday should
Source: Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX)
EGX during the Crisis
September 8, 2011--The recent global economic events that were reflected negatively on the global financial markets performance and accordingly on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), together with the other political and
economic implications, all had significant influence on EGX after
January 2011 revolution.
Accordingly, EGX management undertook different procedures in an attempt to overcome the impact of these events, including:
Fostering corporate disclosure to help investors in taking investment decisions based on sound information.
Reducing the administrative intervention in trading operations to gradually allow investors to trade in a way consistent with the global capital markets standards.
Flexibility in dealing with listed companies without prejudice to the frameworks and laws governing the market in order to protect small investors.
Preparing proposals for a number of amendments to some rules governing the stock market mechanisms (NILEX rules, optional and mandatory de-listing rules, OTC market rules)
On the other hand, the financial markets have witnessed sharp
fluctuations caused by the current economic and political conditions;
hence some mechanisms were applied to limit the negative impact of
such fluctuations:
"Short selling" is one of these mechanisms introduced to the parties operating in the market through some workshops in order to be revised to fit the domestic market conditions and requirements.
Working on launching a new index that measures the performance of the most active 20 companies with criteria that fit a large segment of investors.
Providing more data about bonds market to offer more diversified investment opportunities for investors and to encourage companies to consider bonds as a financing mechanism for their various projects.
Working jointly between the EFSA, EGX and Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry Company to implement new mechanisms that increase the market depth and help enhancing liquidity.
Source: Egyptian Exchange (EGX)
National Bank of Egypt ratings affirmed, remain on negative outlook
September 08, 2011--Capital Intelligence (CI), the international credit rating agency, announced that it has affirmed National Bank of Egypt (NBE)'s Financial
Strength Rating (FSR) at BB+. The Support Rating is affirmed at 3 based on the government's full ownership, the Bank's systemic importance and the high likelihood of support. [AMEInfo.com]
Source: AME Info
Profit bookings send Qatar borse slightly lower
September 08, 2011--The QE Index in Doha ended at 8,366.39 or off 0.38% on Thursday. Shares dipped across the board, with Doha Bank (up 2.61% at QR62.80)gaining against the trend. Industrial Manufacturing CO. was the top loser (down two percent at QR54).
Shares of Al Meera posted the largest value increase, closing nine percent higher at QR168. Al Meera's Deputy CEO Mohammed Nasser Al-Qahtani has announced that the Qatar-based company has awarded a contract to Arab Engineering Bureau to build two new shopping malls in Doha, Qatar News Agency has reported. One of the malls will be located in the Ain Khaled area while the other will be at Al Mansoura.
Source: AME Info
Buoyant Kuwait market gains the most after Eid
September 08, 2011--The KSE Market Index added 0.92% to reach 5,962.50 points. Shares advanced across all sectors. National Bank of Kuwait hit a one-month high, as it
reach KD1.100 (up 1.8%). During the first week of trading after Eid holidays, the KSE Market Index surged 3.3%, the highest gain among all GCC indexes.
Source: AME Info
RAK Ceramics is the stock of the day in Abu Dhabi
September 08, 2011--The ADX General Index ended flat at 2,599.64, as RAK Ceramicx (gaining 4.71% at Dhs0.89) was the share of the day, as it was the top gainer and the most
liquid stock. Aldar declined 0.81% to Dhs1.23. Investors booked profits at Methaq Takaful (down 1.96% at Dhs1.50) after the share was among the top performers over the last week.
Source: AME Info
Credit Suisse favours Drake & Scull over Arabtec
September 08, 2011--The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) finished the week with loss of half a percent, closing at 1,480.60 points amid rising trading volumes. The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 Index also lost half a percent,
closing at 1507.95. While bellwether Emaar Properties ended unchanged, Arabtec Construction (off 0.72% at Dhs1.37) weighed on the index. Credit Suisse published a research study today, reiterating the Swiss bank's preference for Drake and Scull International or DSI (up 0.69% at Dhs0.878) over Arabtec. "We forecast DSI's backlog to grow at a compound annual growth rate (2010-2013E) of 12.6% vs. -11.6% for Arabtec. We believe it would be challenging for Arabtec to achieve backlog growth in 2011-2012E due to continued focus on real estate projects (86% of the backlog in Q2 2011), in addition to potential cancellations risks of some projects in outstanding backlog. Accordingly, we forecast Arabtec's earnings to decline by 50% year-on-year," the Credit Suisse research report says. Over the first week of Eid, the DFM gained insignificantly. Some 76.3m shares were traded, valued at Dhs70.3m.
Source: AME Info
Iraq aims to reach inflation of 5% next year
September 08, 2011--Iraq's finance minister has said that his country is aiming to reach inflation of 5% next
year backed by central bank policies to control price growth, Reuters has reported. Iraq's core annual inflation rate quickened to 7.1% in July from 6.4% in June, driven mainly by higher housing rental prices.
Source: AME Info
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