Sunday 21 December 2014

Dubai Shares Enter a Bull Market as Oil Rise Fuels Gulf Rally - Bloomberg

Dubai Shares Enter a Bull Market as Oil Rise Fuels Gulf Rally - Bloomberg:



"Dubai’s stocks entered a bull market in the biggest two-day gain in the gauge’s history as oil prices rebounded and global equities rallied. Qatar’s main index also rose.



The DFM General Index climbed 9.9 percent to 3,765.35 at the close, advancing 24 percent since Dec. 17. The measure entered a bear market less than two weeks ago when the gauge plummeted 22 percent from a peak in September. Emaar Properties PJSC led gains with a 14 percent surge. Qatar’s QE Index rallied 7.6 percent, the most in more than five years. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index added 3.5 percent.



“The rout has stopped for now,” Julian Bruce, the head of institutional trading at EFG-Hermes U.A.E. Ltd. in Dubai, said by telephone. “We have seen off the bottom in the short term and we will have a bit more upside now on increased volatility. With the backdrop that we have now of global equities and oil rally, there has been a sea-change in the sentiment.”"



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Non-Opec producers blamed for oil slide - FT.com

Non-Opec producers blamed for oil slide - FT.com:



"The oil ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have blamed the rout in oil prices on producers outside Opec and reaffirmed their stance to hold output at current levels.



Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, said a lack of co-operation from countries outside of the cartel was a key contributor to the near 50 per cent slide in crude prices since the middle of June.



“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other countries sought to bring back balance to the market, but the lack of co-operation from other producers outside Opec and the spread of misleading information and speculation led to the continuation of the drop in prices,” he said at a conference in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, according to Reuters."



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How far down will oil’s descent take the UAE economy? | The National

How far down will oil’s descent take the UAE economy? | The National:



"The UAE will be in recession next year. How can it be otherwise, when oil prices are cut in half and oil revenue makes up a third of the national GDP? You might hope that non-oil growth will compensate for the loss of oil revenue, but then how can that happen when most of the non-oil revenues are from trade with countries even more dependent on oil income? I’ve lived through two recessions here, so this will be my third.



This does not look like a rerun of events in 2009-10. Abu Dhabi prevented that happening by putting a brake on the housing boom late last year. True, Dubai is still busy putting a canal under Sheikh Zayed Road. But this is not like 2009, when hundreds of billions’ worth of projects went ahead simultaneously then stopped suddenly, leaving a pile of debts.



Sure, the debts are still there, albeit refinanced at much lower interest rates on longer tenures. A repeat of the Dubai World US$25 billion debt standstill is highly unlikely – the bankers have made sure of that. Dubai will be able to carry on building, although some projects will go slow and some actually stop for a period. Abu Dhabi will probably follow the same path with its pharaonic public works."



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UAE markets extend rebound on crude | GulfNews.com

UAE markets extend rebound on crude | GulfNews.com:



"The Dubai index extended gains on Sunday buoyed by recovering crude oil led by Arabtec and Emaar Malls Group.



The Dubai Financial Market General Index jumped 8.12 per cent to be at 3,705.04, while ADX general index up 2.68 per cent at 4,482.12.



The gains on DFM was led by Emaar Malls, Arabtec and National Central Cooling company, which zoomed up 15 per cent in early deals."



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Dubai realty market cool-off forces investor rethink | GulfNews.com

Dubai realty market cool-off forces investor rethink | GulfNews.com:



"Master-developers and those with proven track record of delivery will have the edge if investor sentiments in Dubai’s property markets were to tighten further, according to the findings of an industry survey complied by the law firm Hadef & Partners. This will force non-Tier A developers with having to “get more innovative and offering something more” to win over buyer confidence.



That could even mean sacrificing on their offer pricing. As high as 70 per cent of respondents in the survey believed that sub-developers need to come up with “better payment plans, lower prices and more balanced contracts” to get into their off-plan projects. This could have ramifications for the entire industry as a raft of new off-plan projects were launched by private developers recently, both in established locations and, more so these days, in newer locations further away from the city centre.



“There’s an undercurrent of caution, which could be eased if investors see the government sustaining the significant spending on wider infrastructure projects,” said Brent Baldwin, Partner at Hadef & Partners. “This will also be expressed by investors putting more faith in government-owned or backed developers."



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Alkhabeer Starts Venture Fund for Saudi Startup Companies - Bloomberg

Alkhabeer Starts Venture Fund for Saudi Startup Companies - Bloomberg:



"Saudi Arabia’s Alkhabeer Capital is setting up a venture capital fund to invest in technology start-ups.



Alkhabeer Ventures will target mobile, e-commerce, news media and social media startups and new technologies like 3D imaging in Saudi Arabia, the company said today in a statement. Alkhabeer will seek companies in their first-round of fundraising and exit through trade sales or initial public offerings. The company didn’t disclose the size of the fund. 




Alkhabeer is seeking to capitalize on high-levels of social media and other technology usage in Saudi Arabia. The country has the third highest smartphone penetration levels in the world, behind the United Arab Emirates and South Korea, according to the Our Mobile Planet survey by Google. It also has the highest number of YouTube views per internet user in the world, according to the video hosting site. Riyad Capital said in June that is was planning to launch a $270 million venture capital fund also targeting Saudi technology startups."



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Non-OPEC Producers Called on to Cut Oil Output After Rout - Bloomberg

Non-OPEC Producers Called on to Cut Oil Output After Rout - Bloomberg:



"Oil producers outside of OPEC should cut their “irresponsible” output with excess supplies harming the market, the United Arab Emirates energy minister said.



The oil market is oversupplied by 2 million barrels a day, Mohammed Al Sada, Qatar’s energy minister, told Bloomberg at a conference in Abu Dhabi. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has produced about 30 million barrels a day since January 2013 while global output climbed more than 2 million barrels a day to 93.6 million barrels, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 




“We call on all other producers to stop the increase because the increase is harming the market,” U.A.E. Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told Bloomberg at the conference. “If the increase stops, and they follow OPEC’s lead, OPEC’s decision is to fix production, if production stabilizes in 2015 things will stabilize much faster.”"



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