Sunday 21 May 2017

MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi basks in Trump glow, most of region moves little | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi basks in Trump glow, most of region moves little | Reuters:

"Saudi Arabia's stock market outperformed a sluggish region on Sunday after U.S. and Saudi companies signed over $200 billion of deals during the visit to Riyadh by President Donald Trump. Few of the deals involved listed Saudi companies, and many had been previously announced, or were merely memorandums of understanding that might never lead to concrete projects. But the positive publicity around the agreements - and the warm welcome given to Trump amid talk of stronger diplomatic and economic ties between the countries - cheered some investors, and the Saudi stock index gained 0.8 percent."



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Saudi wealth fund to back $40bn Blackstone infrastructure vehicle

Saudi wealth fund to back $40bn Blackstone infrastructure vehicle:

"The sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia has unveiled plans to place $20bn with Blackstone, the alternative asset manager, becoming the anchor investor in a new $40bn infrastructure fund that will focus on mainly upgrading US assets.

The two sides announced the non-binding memorandum on Saturday, just hours after US president Donald Trump landed in Riyadh for his first foreign visit since inauguration.

However, both Saudi’s Public Investment Fund and Blackstone stated that the terms were not yet finalised and emphasised that the agreement was the culmination of talks that predated the US president’s election."



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SoftBank Closes Funding For Record $93 Billion Investment Fund - Bloomberg

SoftBank Closes Funding For Record $93 Billion Investment Fund - Bloomberg:

"SoftBank Group Corp. and Saudi Arabia formally announced the first round of capital commitments for the largest-ever technology investment fund, as founder Masayoshi Son seeks to accelerate his financing of cutting-edge technologies and startups.

More than $93 billion has been secured from backers led by the Japanese company and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, SoftBank said in a statement Saturday. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co., Apple Inc., Qualcomm Inc., Foxconn Technology Group and Sharp Corp. are also investing, and SoftBank aims to reach $100 billion with a final close within six months. Mubadala committed $15 billion, according to a separate statement.

The Vision Fund will allow the billionaire Son to cut even more ambitious deals than he’s been able to do with his highly leveraged company. He has used money from his domestic telecom operations to pay for investments in startups in China, India and the U.S. and for acquisitions of larger companies such as U.K. chipmaker ARM Holdings Plc and U.S. wireless operator Sprint Corp. Now he sees richer opportunities than ever before in areas like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.

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Saudi Billionaire Says Companies Struggled to 'Absorb' Reforms - Bloomberg

Saudi Billionaire Says Companies Struggled to 'Absorb' Reforms - Bloomberg:

"Saudi Arabia lined up prominent officials and CEOs to promote plans to wean the economy off oil on the first day of President Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh. Among them was one of the kingdom’s richest women.

Delivering rare public remarks in her home country, billionaire businesswoman Lubna Al-Olayan said companies have struggled with the magnitude of changes imposed by authorities in the first year of the so-called Vision 2030 plan. She, however, praised the “open discussion” between the government and the local business community."



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Saudi oil minister: continuing cuts, adding small producers to deal will reduce inventories | Reuters

Saudi oil minister: continuing cuts, adding small producers to deal will reduce inventories | Reuters:

"Saudi Arabia believes continuing an agreement among global oil producers to cut output, and adding one or two small producers to the deal, will reduce oil inventories sufficiently, energy minister Khalid al-Falih said on Sunday. "We believe that continuation with the same level of cuts, plus eventually adding one or two small producers...will be more than adequate to bring the five-year balance to where they need to be by the end of the first quarter 2018," he said. Falih was speaking at a news conference before this week's talks between global oil producers on whether to extend their output deal, which expires in June."



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Trump Toast of Town in Saudi Arabia as Talks Turn to Politics - Bloomberg

Trump Toast of Town in Saudi Arabia as Talks Turn to Politics - Bloomberg:

"U.S. President Donald Trump was feted again on Sunday, the second day of his trip to Saudi Arabia, as he began a series of meetings with Arab leaders that will focus on combating terrorism and containing Iran’s influence in the region. Sitting next to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, Trump praised the Egyptian leader for what he said were successful efforts to fight terrorism under “trying circumstances.”"



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MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi, UAE bourses firm after oil price rebound | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi, UAE bourses firm after oil price rebound | Reuters:

"Stock markets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates rose in early trade on Sunday, with Saudi petrochemical shares particularly strong, after oil prices rebounded at the end of last week.

The Saudi stock index added 1.0 percent in the first 50 minutes as Saudi Basic Industries, the top petrochemical producer, gained by the same margin.

Mining company Ma'aden rose 2.9 percent. Among tens of billions of dollars worth of deals announced by U.S. companies on Saturday during President Donald Trump's visit to Riyadh, GE said it would provide technology to Ma'aden to reduce its energy costs and boost efficiency."



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