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Weekly FX roundup: Euro strength continues
Pressure on the Greenback continued last week, with the US Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against the Euro, Swiss Franc, Yen, Sterling, Swedish Krona, and Canadian Dollar, falling below 75 levels on October 21, its lowest point since August 2008. This was mainly due to the positive Q3 earnings reported by US companies, where more than 80% of corporate results continued to defy earnings expectations.
Tadawul dips on mixed trading
Saudi Arabia's Tadawul index fell by 0.62% to 6,527.53, with the majority of sectors moving downwards and only Retail, Transport and Hotels keeping their positive sentiment. Eighty-four stocks fell, with only 33 rising. Walaa insurance posted the highest gains, moving up by 9.94% to SR34.30.
ADX makes modest gains
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange ended the day up by 0.89% to 3,147.44 after slow gains throughout trading. Seventeen stocks rose, nine fell and eight held steady. ADCB was the highest riser, making modest gains of 4.21% to Dhs2.28. The real estate sector kept the market busy, with Aldar and Sorouh being the most actively traded stocks by value.
DFM begins week with mild gains
The Dubai Financial Market has closed up by 0.85% to 2,263.10. Twelve companies rose, 13 fell and five held steady. Emaar was once again the most active stock by volume and value, ending the day up 1.03% at Dhs4.67. Emirates NBD was the highest gainer, closing 4.94% up at Dhs4.25.
Abu Dhabi inflation falls
According to the Statistics Centre-Abu Dhabi, the emirate's inflation rate had dropped to 1.17% in the first nine months of this year, from 14.88% in the same period last year, Khaleej Times has reported. The steep decline is one of the positive impacts of the global financial crisis on the economy of the emirate, the centre said.
AFHC opens second office
Al Futtaim HC Securities (AFHC), a partnership between Al-Futtaim Group and HC Securities and Investment, has announced that it will open its second office today in the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) headquarters as part of its expansion plans. 'Our new branch represents the beginning of a broader program to expand our presence within the UAE's financial markets,' Hassan Choucri, AFHC's general manager said.
Shuaa Securities to launch online trading platform
Shuaa Securities, the brokerage division of Shuaa Capital, has announced that it will launch an advanced online investor trading platform to enable investors to trade and monitor shares on regional stock markets. The bilingual trading platform features online trading, voice recognition trading, advanced research portal and voice recognition price inquiry. In addition to the UAE stock markets, the firm is in the process of enabling trading in other regional equity markets to this portal including Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Morgan Stanley sees Saudi growth in 2010
Morgan Stanley has said in a report, it is expecting Saudi Arabia's total output to grow by 3.6% in 2010 and 4.7% in 2011. In the report, 'Saudi Arabia Economics: Unlocking the Kingdom's Potential', the country's real output is seen to recover in 2010, brought by higher oil production levels; stronger domestic demand on the back of the government's expansionary fiscal and monetary stance; and a gradual resumption of credit growth. The report has mentioned rising unemployment levels as a challenge to growth as Saudi Arabia possesses a young population, with close to 48% of Saudi nationals under the age of 20.
DFM posts slight loss
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) ended the day down slightly by 0.63% to 2,244.03, with trading picking up in the late afternoon. Emaar was the most active by value and by volume, but only increased by 0.22% to Dhs4.61. Ekttitab was the day's biggest gainer, going up by 9.47% to Dhs1.04.
ADX ends the week on a low
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) ended the week on a downwards trend, closing 1.16% down on Thursday at 3,119.56. Only seven stocks advanced, with 27 falling and one holding steady. National Marine Dredging Co posted the day's biggest gains, going up by 5% to Dhs8.40. The Industrial sector was the only one to show any uplift during trading.
Saudi authority fines SCC chair, board members
The Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) has fined the chairman and six board members of Saudi Chemical Co. (SCC) SR50,000 ($13,330) each, for allegedly approving an acquisition in which the chairman had a vested interest but failed to consult shareholders, Arab News has reported. '[The fine] is because they have accepted a deal for their subsidiary to buy 15% of the shares in Mawarid, although the chairman of the [SCC's] board had an interest in the transaction, without authorization from the general assembly,' CMA said.
Oman economy to grow 2.5%
Abdulmalik Al-Hinai, undersecretary of Oman's economy ministry has said that the Sultanate's economy will grow by 2.5% in 2009 in nominal terms, thanks to better performance of its non-oil sectors, Reuters has reported. 'The growth will come from the non-oil sector such as mining, industries, agriculture and taxes,' he said. In nominal terms, Oman's non-oil sector share of GDP stands at 74%, while the rest goes to the hydrocarbon sector, which has a much larger impact on economies of the country's more resource-rich Gulf neighbours.
Mubadala to triple assets
Mubadala Development, the Abu Dhabi government-backed investment firm, has said it plans to triple its assets in three years, Bloomberg has reported. 'That is a very realistic and achievable target,' Matthew Hurn, Mubadala's executive director of group treasury said. 'We're long-term, patient developers and deployers of capital, which means that actually a lot of the benefit doesn't come back until the plans are operational,' he added.
UAE to wait for Fed before upping rates
The UAE's central bank governor Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi, has said that the country will wait for the US Federal Reserve before increasing interest rates. 'We are not prepared to raise the interest rate on the dirham before the US Federal Reserve because this will create for us other problems resulting from the inflow of additional money into the UAE economy," al-Suwaidi told Bloomberg.
Saudi index dips lower
The Tadawul All Share Index (Tasi) fell 0.57% as 88 stocks declined compared to 34 that finished higher. Kingdom Holding declined 2.9% to 5.05 riyals after the company reported that net income in the third-quarter dropped 54%. Saudi Cable plunged 9.86% to 31.1 riyals, after reporting that profit fell to 20.1 million riyals from 92.3 million riyals in the year-earlier period.
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