Dubai market soars ahead of UAE 41st National Day
November 29, 2012--The DFM General Index closed 1.20% higher at 1,607.90 points as most real estate shares and financials rebounded.
Emaar and Arabtec gained 1.60% and 1.80%, respectively. Emirates NBD and Ajmanbank soared 4.26% and 2.80%. Earlier in the day, Ashok Aram, the CEO MENA at Deutsche Bank said he was optimistic that GCC capital markets are becoming increasingly attractive and that they will continue to increase its market share in the region's financing and investments. He urged the private industry in the GCC to value human capital higher "as the U. S. is still willing to pay more for talents across all industries and this leads many Middle Eastern talents to seek a career abroad." Some 97.9m shares valued at Dhs111.72m changed hands. On the occasion of the 41st UAE National Day, the DFM will remain closed on Dec.2 and Dec.3.
Source: AME Info
NBAD hits multi-year high on bullish GCC prospects
November 29, 2012--The ADX General Index closed 1.04% higher at 2,674.56 as shares gained across the board on Thursday.
The UAE's second lender National Bank of Abu Dhabi or NBAD jumped 4% to hit Dhs10.50, representing the highest price level since August 2008, the month before U. S. investment bank Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. Earlier in the day, Deutsche Bank CEO for the MENA region Ashok Aram said at the 7th annual summit of the Gulf Petrochems & Chemicals Association (GPCA) that GCC banks were today better off than their counterparts in the West as GCC lenders had a low cost income ratio of below 40% on average and their return on equity was between 12% to 15%compared to 60%/5% - 7% at banks in Europe and the U. S. "GCC capital markets will continue to expand in the coming years," said Aram. Abu Dhabi National Energy Co, known as Taqa, closed unchanged. Earlier in the day, Taqa said t hired 5 banks, NBAD being one of them, to arrange global investors meetings in order to raise bonds of half a billion U. S. dollars under its existing Global Medium Term Note program. On Wednesday, Taqa said it acquired oil and gas assets in the North Sea form BP worth $1bn.
Source: AME Info
Bahrain Bourse stabilises near 1,050
November 29, 2012-The Bahrain All-Share Index closed 0.10% higher at 1,048.81 points Thursday as Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait or BBK jumped 4.74% to reach BD0.398.
Bahrain Middle East Investemnt Bank, known as BMB, closed unchanged. Earlier in the day, Fitch Ratings has affirmed BMB's long-term issuer default rating at "B-". Fitch also revised BMB's outlook to "positive" from stable. The lender said this success reflects its de-leveraging efforts.
Source: AME Info
DP World jumps to three-week high at NASDAQ Dubai
November 29, 2012--The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 Index closed Thursday 2.57% higher at 1806.98 points.
Shares of global port operator DP World surged 5.40% to hit $12.49. Interior designer Depa Ltd. fell 5.6% to $0.36.
Source: AME Info
Real estate euphoria loses steam at Dubai market
November 28, 2012--The new optimism on the development of a new city within a city in Dubai which was fuelled at the start of the week was fading away Wednesday as construction-related shares weighed on the DFM General Index, closing down 0.17% at 1,588.77.
Arabtec Construction (0.90% lower), Emaar Properties (off 0.80%) and MEP-specialist Drake and Scull International (losing 0.70%) were the most liquid shares. Budget carrier Air Arabia and district cooling provider Tabreed (both up 1.71%) topped the charts. Trading volumes remained low ahead of the 41st UAE National Day as 76.4m shares were traded, valued at Dhs110.4m.
Source: AME Info
Taqa expands North Sea operations
November 28, 2012--The Abu Dhabi equity market measure ADX General Index closed 0.13% higher at 2,646.92 points, supported by banks and developers.
Eshraq Properties posted the largest advance, closing 5.13% higher at Dhs0.42. Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. or Taqa closed unchanged at Dhs1.30. Earlier in the day, Taqa said it bought from BP assets in the North Sea worth $1.058bn. Taqa estimates that the acquisition will increase it net production by 21k barrels of oil equivalent per day. Since Jan. 1, Taqa gained 8.3% in value amid volatile trading.
Source: AME Info
Kuwait market dips as investors book profits
November 28, 2012--After rising over two percent in the last week, the KSE Market Index fell a quarter percentage point, closing at 5,935.89 points Wednesday.
Banks, techs and oil and gas firms lost in particular. DME Oman Crude oil fell $1.50 to $107.58 after Asian shares slipped on growth concerns. Kuwait's fiscal budget relies 90% on oil revenues.
Source: AME Info
Saudi exchange finishes volatile week with a small happy-end
November 28, 2012--The Tadawul All-Share Index rose 1.09% to reach 6,533.14 points as Sabic stabilised at SR87.25 (up 0.30%).
Earlier in the day, Sabic published its first sustainability report. Saudi Arabian Mining Co. or Ma'aden gained 0.65%, finishing at SR32.20. After the close of trading, Ma'aden said its affiliate, Sahara & Maaden Petrochemicals Company (SAMAPCO), has signed a Sharia complaint financing agreements for a total amount of SR1.98bn ($528.2m). The agreements were signed with three Saudi banks: The Saudi British Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi and Riyad Bank, to provide the financing for the development of SAMAPCOs Ethylene Dichloride and Caustic Soda petrochemical project located in Jubail Industrial City.
Source: AME Info
Kuwait market dips as investors book profits
November 28, 2012--After rising over two percent in the last week, the KSE Market Index fell a quarter percentage point, closing at 5,935.89 points Wednesday.
Banks, techs and oil and gas firms lost in particular. DME Oman Crude oil fell $1.50 to $107.58 after Asian shares slipped on growth concerns. Kuwait's fiscal budget relies 90% on oil revenues.
Source: AME Info
UAE considering full foreign ownership of 'some' businesses
November 27, 2012--The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has said the UAE government is reviewing a draft commercial law allowing full foreign ownership of some companies, Bloomberg has reported.
“We recognise the importance of the foreign companies to have 100% ownership, but within specific rules and conditions,” said Mohamed Omar Abdulla, undersecretary of ADDED. The current commercial law allows foreigners to own a maximum of 49% of companies registered outside of free zones. Corporations that are eligible would “have to be within the industries that have certain priorities within the economy, like petrochemicals, communications, logistics, aerospace, financial, and others,” he said.
Source: AME Info