Middle East ETF News Older than One Year
Dubai Mercantile Exchange Announces Record Two Billion
March 27, 2011--The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME) announced today that cumulative trading of its benchmark DME Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract (DME Oman) has exceeded two million contracts, representing two billion barrels of crude oil traded since its launch on 1 June, 2007.
At the close of trading on 25 March 2011, DME Oman had traded a total of 2,001,625 contracts, which at 1,000 barrels per contract is equivalent to more than two billion barrels of crude oil.
Reflecting the growing liquidity of its flagship contract, the DME recently reported a 35% year-on-year increase in trading volumes and record levels of open interest. Today, more than 60 companies trade regularly on the exchange while in excess of 140 million barrels of crude oil were delivered through the DME during 2010, confirming the status of DME Oman as the world’s largest physically delivered crude oil futures contract.
The DME started 2011 on a positive note by setting a new trading record with average daily volumes being the highest since the launch of the exchange. The DME’s role as a provider of risk management capabilities was further enhanced through the introduction of eight new DME–Oman linked swap and option contracts that will help industry participants manage their price risk more effectively in the Middle East and Asia Pacific energy markets. The swap and option contracts were launched by the CME Group, a core shareholder of the DME.
Source: Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME)
Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange Weekly View-March 27, 2011
March 27, 2011--Economic Data Overview
Friday April 1 includes the US labour market data and being the first day of the month means some of the sector reports that normally feed into forecasters' estimates will not be released until later. Therefore, there may be a greater than usual uncertainty in markets as the release time approaches. Otherwise, the March 28 week data releases may serve only to flesh out what is already known for consumer confidence, housing and manufacturing.
The BLS data on March unemployment and payrolls is set for Friday. Early expectations for non-farm payrolls centre near a 200,000 gain, but the range between the low and high forecasts is wide which suggest a lot of uncertainty. Estimates for the unemployment rate are closely clustered near 8.9% within a range of 8.8% to 9.0%. Weekly initial jobless claims have been trending lower, but that only indicates fewer layoffs and not necessarily more hiring.
Decreases in continuing claims may be due to some beneficiaries finding jobs, but there are some who are simply running out of benefits. The implications for the unemployment rate are that the decreases in claims in the last three months are no fluke. While the pace of improvement to the unemployment rate may slow, it should still continue to inch lower. Initial claims for the week ended March 26 on Thursday will include the annual revisions when the ETA introduces the new seasonal adjustment factors for 2011. The week-to-week levels may be somewhat different, but the fundamentals will be the same.
The only piece of data during the week that has the potential to alter the outlook for most employment forecasts is the ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday. The report has had a few big misses in the last few months, but..
Source: AME Info
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange: New and Upgraded Indices As Of April 3rd, 2011
March 24, 2011--As of March 24th, 2011 TASE will launch 4 new continuously quoted equity indices and upgrade additional two:
view the indices constituents and changes in weight factor
Source: TASE
KSE loses steam on Egypt market woes
March 24, 2011-- Despite that KSE witnessed its highest daily trading activity since March 13, it ended the day on a negative note. The Kuwaiti market started the session in green, however at 11:00am, when Egyptian Stock Market resumed trading after almost 7 weeks of shutdown and plunged by more than 10 percent, KSE could not hold its upward trend and reversed mainly affected by psychological factors.
Most major indices backtracked ending yesterday's session in red territory.
Global General Index (GGI), market weighted, ended the day down by 0.11 percent, at 202.01 point. Market Capitalization was also down for the day at KD32.83bn. On the other hand, Kuwait Stock Exchange Price Index closed at 6,294.8 point, shedding 35.50 points (0.56 percent) to its previous close.
Source: Kuwait Times
Unrest pressure on Saudi bourse
Royal financial packages boost market after plunging to 22-month law
March 24, 2011--Saudi Arabia’s stock market, the largest and busiest in the Middle East, will likely remain under pressure by the ongoing political turmoil in the Arab region despite massive royal financial packages announced over the past month, according to a key investment company in the Gulf Kingdom.
The packages announced by King Abdullah for citizens, worth a total $128 billion, lifted Tadawul bourse after plunging to its lowest level in nearly 22 months early this month, the Riyadh-based Jadwa Investments said.
“At its current level we think the market is attractively valued. While two substantial government spending packages will boost the economy, regional tensions are likely to linger through this year and weigh on investor sentiment,”
Source: Emirates 24/7
Qatar exchange in talks for foreign ownership
March 24, 2011--Andre Went, CEO of the Qatar stock exchange, has said the bourse is in discussions with authorities to allow foreign ownership in the exchange
as it eyes an emerging market tag from index compiler MSCI, Reuters has reported. "We are discussing it with the relevant authorities. There's no decision so it doesn't make sense to speculate (on a timeframe)," Went told reporters.
Source: AME Info
Egypt mulls changes to banking law
March 24, 2011--Egypt's central bank has said it is to consider a revision to the country's banking and monetary law to strengthen bank governance, particularly that of state banks, Reuters has reported.
The central bank said plans revisions to bank oversight rules included in the 2003 law and to its own role in the oversight. The study is expected to take around four months to allow time to consult different parties.
Source: AME Info
The Palestine Exchange alone amongst Arab exchanges in the green
PEX regained its losses since early 2011as the Al-Quds Index recorded an increase of 1.37 per cent as of 21/03/2011, compared to close of 2010.
March 23, 2011--The Palestine Exchange (PEX) showed a positive performance during March 2011. PEX regained its losses since early 2011 as the Al-Quds Index recorded an increase of 1.37 per cent as of 21/03/2011 compared to close of 2010.
This leaves PEX as the only Arab exchange in the green where all other Arab exchanges sustained considerable losses since January 2011.
Ahmad Aweidah said, "Investors are confident and well informed of the solid facts on the ground regardless of the current political turbulence that is overshadowing all Arab exchanges since January 2011.”
Source: Online News
UAE markets close steady
DFM closes at a month-high despite fall of Egypt shares
March 23, 2011--UAE markets ended mixed on Wednesday, showing little reaction from sharp declines on Egypt's index as Cairo trading resumed following an eight-week suspension
Dubai Financial Market’s index closed at a month-high, rising 0.6 per cent to 1,529 points, its fifth gain in six sessions, although it is down 6.2 per cent in 2011.
"It's very positive for UAE markets that they haven't reacted to Egypt opening at limit down," Mohammed Yasin, CAPM Investment chief investment officer said.
Source: Emirates 24/7
MENA M&A deals increase by 65%
March 23, 2011--Ernst and Young has said the total value of deals announced last year in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region climbed 65% to $55.9bn last year from $33.9bn in 2009.
Total volume of announced M&A deals also increased from 2009 to 2010, going from 353 deals to 402 deals, a rise of 14%. The UAE was the top acquiring country in terms of volume of deals with 42 deals, which comprised 36% of total volume of outbound deals; followed by Qatar with 14 deals comprising 12% and Saudi Arabia with 13 deals comprising 11%.
Source: AME Info
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