2005
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Gold hits $530
The gold price surged past $530 an ounce in late trading on Friday, but eased slightly to close around $527. Traders said that Japanese and Asian fund buyers are supporting the price of the yellow metal which has not risen by as much as most other commodities in recent years.
ABN Amro, GCC Gateway Note
ABN Amro is launching its GCC Gateway Note with a choice of a three-year note with 80% capital guarantee and six-year note with 100% capital guarantee. There is up to 150% leveraged exposure to the GCC markets through the GCC Global Fund.
Gold goes higher
Gold has surged to a new 24.5-year high of $518 an ounce in trading today, as fund managers continue to shun stocks and bonds for yellow metal. But analysts doubt the run is sustainable due to large long positions on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division and the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, reported Reuters. Gold has gained about 20% in 2005 and doubled in about five years.
QNB, corporate express service
Qatar National Bank has introduced a customised service, called Al Watani Express, designed for its corporate clients. It includes a secure delivery and collection service for cash, cheques, and various documents to or from corporate customers at a designated time and place.
Dana Gas moves on debut
Dana Gas surged 312% from its offer price of Dhs1 on debut in Abu Dhabi to close at Dhs4.12, making up 66.5% of total market turnover. Abu Shares lost 1.34% overall in heavy trade, while Dubai stocks were up 0.64% on light volumes.
EIB, high-end banking
Emirates Islamic Bank is now offering a priority banking service called Ethmar. Account holders will have a dedicated account manager and other benefits such as first class lounge access at Dubai International Airport, travel services including a reservation line offering discounts, Marhaba services and limousine transfers.
AFS, QIIB smart banking
Arab Financial Service has placed its Smart Alert Card SMS service with Qatar International Islamic Bank. The system will allow the bank to send a wide range of messaging alerts such as authorisations and fraud alerts, customer service, billing, and payment and marketing.
Gold scales $510
Gold traded above $510 an ounce today, its highest level since 1980, as fund managers continue to diversify into commodities amid inflationary fears. In January 1980 the yellow metal hit $850. Other precious metals, except platinum, also lifted in trading.
Makaseeb fund, MENA investment
Makaseeb Funds, the mutual fund unit of Dubai-based Mashreqbank has introduced the Makaseeb Arab Tigers Fund, which will invest in blue chip listed companies in the Middle East and North Africa. The US dollar-denominated fund is open ended with a minimum prescription of $10,000. It will be listed on the Bahrain stock exchange.
KFC, new GCC equities fund
The Kuwait Financial Centre has launched a new open-ended, dollar-denominated fund to invest in GCC equities and IPOs. Officials said they were upbeat about the outlook for Gulf stock markets on the back of strong profits, high liquidity and healthy GDP growth from high oil prices.
Futures trading on Internaxx
The popular Internet brokerage www.internaxx.lu is now offering futures trading on its platform. The Luxembourg based website offers a wide range of contracts from foreign exchange to market indices and precious metals with the ability to trade on the margin.
Gold hits 23-year high
Gold prices touched $506.50 an ounce on Friday as fund managers continued to drive the price of the yellow metal higher amid fears of higher inflation. This marked a 23-year high for gold while precious metals platinum and silver also hit new highs.
GCC stocks in weaker trend
Saudi stocks look likely to follow the UAE, Oman and Qatar with a modest correction in the next couple of weeks, said analysts who asked not to be named. They thought investors would be looking to book some of their stellar profits from 2005 and to move out of banking stocks.
EBI customer service revolution
The revolution in customer service at Emirates International Bank was explained to a MEED conference in Dubai yesterday by retail banking supremo Louis Scotto. After a considerable investment in IT and Internet banking, the bank had organized a special project to eliminate queues and focus on service quality, he said.
Dilala takes over brokerage
Two Qatari brokerage firms, Dilala Brokerage and Dilala Islamic Brokerage, will be responsible for all new investor accounts from 1 January, and takeover existing accounts held by brokerage banks by 1 March 2006, reported The Peninsula. This follows a decision by the Doha Securities Market to terminate the licences of all listed banks offering brokerage services.
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