(Adds context, details of future plans)By Stanley CarvalhoABU DHABI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - In a move that could attract fresh money to the United Arab Emirates' equity markets, the Nasdaq Dubai exchange launched futures contracts on Sunday covering the main indexes of the country's two main stock markets in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.The futures provide exposure to the General Index of the Abu Dhabi Securi...Read More
ABU DHABI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq Dubai exchange launched equity index futures on Sunday for the main indexes of Dubai Financial Market and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, a top official said.The new instruments could help to attract fresh money to the exchanges by giving investors more opportunity to hedge. Nasdaq Dubai began trading single-stock futures for shares in some of the United...Read More
DUBAI/CAIRO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Qatar National Bank (QNB) has hired CI Capital to advise it on the sale of a small stake in its Egyptian unit.QNB plans to reduce its 97.125 percent stake in QNB Alahly to 95percent, the bank said in a statement.The sale is intended to comply with the rules of listing on the stock exchange, which requires that the free float shall not be less than 5 percent, it said...Read More
DUBAI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Most major Gulf stock markets edged up in early trade on Sunday although Dubai fell, partly because of a continued slide in Shuaa Capital .The Saudi index was up 0.5 percent after 55 minutes with blue-chip bank Al Rajhi gaining 0.9 percent. National Medical Care Co rose 1.3 percent after proposing to resume dividend payments for 2017.But Buruj Cooperative Insurance sank 6...Read More
CAIRO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - INTEREST RATESLatestLast change PreviousCentral17.75 15/02/1818.75 bank o/n depositCentral18.75 15/02/1819.75bank o/n lendingCentral18.25 15/02/1819.25bank discount rate MONTHLY DATA _____________ Month Pvs Yr agoUrban 17.128.1consumerJanuary 21.9prices(year-on-year,pct change) CoreinflatioJanuary 14.3519.86 30.86n (year-on-year,pct change) Foreign January 38.20937.020...Read More
DUBAI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Middle Eastern stock markets may have an upward bias on Sunday because of a gradual recovery in oil prices and in Egypt's case, last week's interest rate cut, although there appears to be little reason for any strong rise in equities.Wall Street closed marginally firmer on Friday while Brent oil continued its gradual recovery, settling up 51 U.S. cents at $64.84 a barrel....Read More
Thestock market pullback of the last couple of weeks has shown that markets arejittery, and will likely be volatile for awhile as investors keep a vigil onrising bond yields (inflation) and potential interest rate hikes. In theseuncertain times, one sector that appears to be holding its own, and then some,is commodities. Let’s examine why this is the case, and why commodities aregoing to be...Read More
Federal Reserve officials like to say their policy course is "data-dependent." That sounds very cautious and intelligent, but what does it Continue...Read More
Gold spiked in January, and looked to be headed even higher. But there were some problems. First, futures speculators – as tracked by the Commitment of Traders (COT) report – had goneoverwhelmingly long, and since they tend to be wrong at emotional extremes, this was a red flag. Second, gold was approaching the $1360 level that had, since 2014, been the place where upward momentum went...Read More
Gold continues to prepare to break out of its giant Head-and-Shoulders bottom pattern. As we can see on its 8-year chart below, this base pattern has been developing for getting on for 5-years now, so it has major implications. Upside volume has been building for a long time, driving volume indicators higher, a sign that a breakout and new bullmarket is simply a matter of time, and not much at tha...Read More
Inflation is back. So what does this mean for gold?The consumer price index came in hotter than expected at 2.1%. A CNBC report said the number "pushes the economy toward a potential danger zone for inflation."Analysts had expected January inflation to come in at 0.3, after being up by 0.1 the previous month. Instead, the December number was revised up to 0.2 and January came in at 0.5. As Peter S...Read More
Gold spiked in January, and looked to be headed even higher. But there were some problems. First, futures speculators - as tracked by the Commitment of Traders (COT) report - had gone overwhelmingly long, and since they tend to be wrong at emotional extremes, this was a red flag. Second, gold was approaching the $1,360 level that had, since 2014, been the place where upward momentum went to die. F...Read More
Such a high hurdle indeed: Base Camp 1377. For as we stated a week ago, each time gold as if a magnet pulls in the prices of the 1360s, 'tis is repelled by the pushing forces emanating down from the opposing iconic magnet at 1377, ostensibly gold's highest hurdle in history:We've already seen gold having wasted little time in taking out last year's high (1362) by trading up to 1365 on 25 January....Read More
Here's something we don't see every day; the Dow Jones correcting over 10% in just nine trading days (January 26th to February 8th), then snapping back 5% in the next five. And the violence of the 10% decline, seen in Mr Bear's report card below is remarkable. From February 2-8th the NYSE saw seven extreme market events out of a possible ten; three NYSE 70% A-D Days and four Dow Jones 2% days. A f...Read More
"Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion"Continue...Read More
Like his Father before him, Alexander Soros is becoming a financial force in US politics Continue...Read More
"A Chinese security official grabbed Kelly, and Kelly shoved the man's hand off of his body. Then a U.S. Secret Service agent grabbed the Chinese security official and tackled him to the ground," Continue...Read More
DUBAI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Here are some factors that may affect Middle East stock markets on Sunday. Reuters has not verified the press reports and does not vouch for their accuracy. INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL* GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks post best week in 2 years, dollar climbs * MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi far outperforms Gulf, rate hopes boost Egypt * Oil gains in weekly recovery on equities rebound, wea...Read More
By David MillikenLONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The British government should cut the interest rate it charges on loans to English students, and statisticians should review why the cost of hefty write-offs barely figures in official borrowing data, a parliamentary committee said on Sunday.University tuition fees in England are high compared with elsewhere in Europe at around 9,000 pounds ($12,640) a y...Read More
The numbers: Construction on new homes in the U.S., as measured by housing starts, jumped almost 10% in January to an annual rate of 1.33 million. That's the second highest level since the recession following the financial crisis and it easily exceeded the 1.24 million forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch. Permits to build new homes also hit a 10 1/2 -year high, rising 7.4% to an annual...Read More