Middle East ETF News Older than One Year
Oil prices rise above $85 on Saudi signal
November 2, 2010--Oil prices rose above $85 a barrel on Tuesday, as traders tested the claim of Saudi Arabia, Opec's de facto leader, that it was happy with prices as high as $90 a barrel.
Saudi Arabia sparked a $2 jump in oil prices on Monday when Ali Naimi, its oil minister, raised the trading range it has backed for nearly two years, declaring that crude was in a "comfortable zone" of $70 to $90 a barrel. Mr Naimi's comments marked a subtle shift by the minister, who in the past had voiced satisfaction with the $70-$80 a barrel range that has prevailed for a year.
In late afternoon trading in New York on Tuesday, the rally continued, with Nymex December West Texas Intermediate up $1.23 to $84.17 a barrel. In London, ICE December Brent rose $1.08 to a three-week high of $85.70 a barrel.
Source: Zawya
First Gulf Bank shares buck regional downtrend
November 2, 2010--With 20 decliners and only three gaining shares, the ADX benchmark index ended the session on Tuesday 1.42% lower to close at 2,763.66 points. Investors dumped real estate shares, such as Aldar Properties (down 6.18% at Dhs2.40) or RAK Properties (3.92% lower at Dhs0.50).
Shares of First Gulf Bank (FGB), the UAE's fourth largest lender by assets, added 0.60% to finish at Dhs16.75. Credit Suisse issued a strong buy recommendation for FGB shares on October 27: "We expect FGB to maintain high profitability of some 20% return on equity in 2011E despite the very high capitalization levels (tier 1 20%, CAR 23.4%), and is still trading at 1x book value. We see room for multiples re-rating and thus maintain our Outperform rating and 12 month target price of Dhs28 per share", says Credit Suisse analyst Mohamad Hawa.
Source: AME Info
Qatar bourse dips slightly
November 2, 2010--The Doha-based Qatar Exchange ended 0.05% lower on Tuesday, closing at 7,766.24, whilst insurers and services firms weighed on the market. Doha Bank regained territory, ending up 0.75% to close at QR53.60. Banks benefit from the government's diversification strategy.
Kuwait's Global Investment House comments on Qatar "Non oil & gas sector has surpassed oil & gas sector share in total GDP for the first time in the new millennium. Non oil sector GDP reached all time high of QR192.5bn and grew on a CAGR basis of 31.4% during the period 2005-2009. Financial services which make about 12% of the total GDP in 2009, reaching QR43.4bn. The State of Qatar was active in the financial sector during the crisis, it intervened strongly to help shore up capital of the banks, Qatar Investment Authority injected around US$1bn to shore up capital, in addition the government made available up to US$6bn to buy the equity and real estate portfolios of the banks as they were affected by the crisis."
Source: AME Info
Kuwait market KSE escapes GCC index losses
November 2, 2010--As the only stock exchange in the GCC, the KSE Market Index added 0.68% to close at 7,129.30.
The Gulf state's largest lender by assets and market share National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), surged 2.98%, ending at KD1.380. Islamc bank Kuwait Finance House (KFH) closed 1.66% higher at KD.1220.
Source: AME Info
Tadawul market adds 0.14%
November 2, 2010--Saudi Arabian investors turned a red day into the green during the last hour of trading in Riyadh, sending the Tadawul market 0.14% higher to 6,372.71 points.
Yanbu National Petrochemical Company added 1.42% while its rival Sabic dipped by half a percentage point to close at SR99. Earlier in the day, the Tadawul market said that the total amount of traded shares in the Saudi Stock Exchange last month was SR57.87bn.
Source: AME Info
DGCX sets monthly volume record of 209,994 contracts in October
Monthly volumes increase 52% year-on-year to 209,994 contracts, valued at US $10.61 billion
Year-to-date (YTD) volumes rise 39% to reach 1,568,727 contracts
November 2, 2010--October volumes on the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) grew 52% year-on-year to set a new monthly record of 209,994 contracts, valued at US $10.61 billion, surpassing the previous high of 192,138 contracts recorded in June this year.
ncreased trading activity throughout October also saw year-to-date (YTD) volumes rising 39% to reach 1,568,727 contracts, the earliest point that the Exchange has crossed the 1.5 million mark in any year since inception. Average daily volume was 10,000 contracts in October, a 59% increase on last year and a 34% increase on last month.
DGCX currency futures were again the prime driver of growth with monthly volumes growing 202% to reach 147,977 contracts in October. DGCX Indian Rupee futures sustained its record run, setting its fifth consecutive monthly high with 97,353 contracts, a 39% increase from last month. Indian Rupee futures also established a new daily volume record on October 21st with 6,099 contracts traded. New currency contracts; Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar and Swiss Franc futures, recorded strong growth, increasing 81%, 141% and 43% on last month to achieve volumes of 4,170, 6,208 and 4,745 contracts respectively. Euro/Dollar, Sterling/Dollar and Yen/Dollar saw volumes of 21,192, 11,080 and 3,229 contracts respectively.
Within the precious metals segment, DGCX Gold futures saw a strengthening in trading of 46% on last month to reach 51,392 contracts. Gold futures sustained increased trading activity throughout October, registering daily volumes of over 2,500 contracts on many trading days. Silver grew 54% on last month to reach 2,526 total contracts while WTI climbed 15% to register volumes of 8,099 contracts in October.
Source: Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX)
Yemen's oil exports increase by 20%
November 1, 2010--According to official data by the central bank of Yemen, the government's share of oil exports increased by 20.6% during the first half of current year to 15.5 million barrels, matching the 2009 period, Yemen Observer has reported.
Oil exports through the first half of 2010 were 34.9% below their level during the same period of 2008, and less than half the amount exported as late as the second half of 2006, the data showed.
Source: AME Info
Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange Weekly Views-October 31, 2010
October 31, 2010-Economic Data Overview
The first week of November is very busy in terms of macroeconomic data releases. It encompasses the two-day FOMC meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, the U.S. national elections on Tuesday, the Treasury's quarterly refunding on Wednesday, and the monthly employment report on Friday. Over the course of the week there is a fairly steady stream of other economic reports, while four other major central banks hold meetings during the week. All-in-all, this may be a difficult week with which to keep up.
The October employment report at on Friday is foremost in importance among the economic data. Early market expectations centre on a modest increase of around 60,000. This is expected to be on gains in private payrolls, with little change in government jobs. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 9.6%. If this is the case, then the labour market continues to tread water, adding insufficient jobs to bring down the unemployment rate, but not worsening either.
The October ISM manufacturing index is due on Monday, and the non-manufacturing index on Wednesday. Other data has hinted as some improvement in the factory sector for the month, but the details do not suggest that employment has picked up substantially. If soIf so, the national measure should not signal robust hiring in the goods-producing sector data. Services-providing industries are harder to forecast, but if the non-manufacturing employment index is higher, then it will add to expectations for private payrolls. There is a possible boost from widespread hiring in retail in advance of the holiday shopping period.
New orders for factory goods in September are due on Wednesday and should take its tone from the strong report on orders for durables. Commodities costs have been on the rise and this should be visible in the change in non-durable goods orders.
The FOMC holds its two-day session on Tuesday and Wednesday. It almost universally anticipated that the Committee will introduce another round of large-scale asset purchases, although the size and manner of the buys is open to speculation.
Source: Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange
The new appetite for Sukuk
October 28, 2010--The market for Islamic Bonds, or sukuk, became an indicator for the entire Islamic Finance industry. Not only has the Dubai World debt restructuring removed some doubts on Islamic Bonds, but the market has also gained pace in general. AMEinfo.com examines recent and future developments.
Sukuk has become a common financial instrument in East and West, for long-term and short-term financing. In October, the Dow Jones Citigroup Sukuk Index added 1.12% (as of the close of trading of October 25th).
This does not seem enough to attract investors as Shariah-compliant equity indices offered more attractive returns, such as the Dow Jones Islamic Market (DJIM) Kuwait Index, which rose 4.41% in October, or the Dow Jones Dubai Financial Market (DFM) Index, as the latter surged 5.88% higher. But the comparably lower return of the Dow Ones Citigroup Sukuk benchmark composite, which measures the performance of investment grade, dollar-denominated sukuk, is not representative of the comeback of Islamic Bonds.
Source: AME Info
Dubai market ends week on a bullish note
October 28, 2010--The DFM General Index jumped 2.58% Thursday to close at 1,777.19. Emaar shares gained 3.44% to finish at Dhs3.91, although missing analysts' estimates on Q3 results. Emaar Properties reported a 7% decline in third quarter profit Wednesday. Shares of Arabtec surged 3.44%, ending at Dhs2.27.
Credit Suisse-analyst Ahmed Badr remains neutral on Arabtec: "We reinstate coverage on Arabtec Holding with a Neutral rating and a target price of Dhs2.08 per share", Badr writes today, adding that "although Arabtec remains one of the cheapest construction companies globally, we believe potential risk for receivables as well as declining profitability would limit the stock from re-rating on a 12-months basis." The company's net profit fell to Dhs612m in the third quarter this year from Dhs665m in the same quarter in 2009.
Source: AME Info
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