AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, finance and economy briefs
Dec 06, 2012 (Menafn - AME Info - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --DP WORLD FALLS THE THIRD DAY STRAIGHT: The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 Index closed at 1793.41 Thursdday, down 0.18 percent. DP World was the only share traded and fell for the third consecutive trading session, finishing off 0.8 percent at 12.15.
QATARI SHARES GAIN ACROSS THE BOARD: The QE Index gained 0.30 percent to reach 8,360.30 Thursday. All sector indices except transports landed in the green. Since May 13, the gauge has been trading in a range between 8,130 to 8,530 points. Dlala Real-estate Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dlala Brokerage and Investment Holding (down 2.70 percent at QR34.60) said earlier in the day t has bought a land plot in Al-Wakeer area and in um Qurn area for the purpose investment and development.
TAQA GAINS ON BOND ISSUANCES: The Abu Dhabi market measure ADXGI closed Thursday trading 0.10 percent lower at 2,674.21 points, mainly on small losses at the UAE's first telecom firm Etisalat and in the banking sector. Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. or Taqa advanced 0.77 percent to reach Dhs1.31. Earlier in the day, Taqa said it has finalized the issuance of 750m senior notes at 2.50 percent and due in Jan. 2018, and 750 senior (3.625 percent; Jan. 2023). The proceeds will be used to settle debt payments and for general business purposes. Last week, Taqa expanded its operations in the North Sea by buying assets from BP for more than 1bn.
SHUAA CAPITAL SHARES CHEAP LIKE IN FEB. 2012: The Dubai equity market index DFMGI closed the Thursday 0.10 percent lower at 1,609.63 in a lackluster trading session. Emaar as the most liquid share fell 0.53 percent to Dhs3.76. Air Arabia surged 2.21 percent to hit Dhs0.741. Earlier in the day, the Sharjah-based budget carrier announced the start of services to Basra, its third destination in Iraq. Investment bank Shuaa Capital fell temporarily over 5 percent but regained territory in a last-minute move and closed off 3.53 percent at Dhs0.52, the lowest level in 10 months. ON Wednesday, Shuu said it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PT Pratama Capital Indonesia. The MoU involves the development of a mutually beneficial collaboration between the two firms, offering a variety of investment banking services to issuers and investors in the UAE and the Republic of Indonesia. Shuaa narrowed its Q3 losses to Dhs13.9m from Dhs156.2m year on year and aims to profitable in 2013 the earliest.
CORRUPTION LEVELS IN EGYPT INCREASE DESPITE ARAB SPRING: Transparency International has said Egypt has slid in a global league table of perceived official corruption in the past year, and the "Arab Spring" revolutions have yet to produce serious anti-graft action across the region, Reuters has reported. The anti-graft organisation said in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index Egypt had fallen six places to 118th out of 176 countries as levels of bribery, abuse of power and secret dealings remain high in the Arab world's most populous nation. "We've observed that in countries where substantial change occurred they're still struggling to put in place new systems of governance," said Christoph Wilcke, Transparency International director for the Middle East and North Africa. "That's reflected in these scores. The hope hasn't materialised yet in more serious anti-corruption programmes."
EGYPT PLANS NEW LAW FOR ISLAMIC BONDS: The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) has finalised a draft law to regulate Islamic bonds, or sukuk, the Daily News Egypt has reported. The proposed legislation aims to expand the scope of activities that sukuk can finance and allow the issuance of business sukuk. Under the legislation, an Islamic supervision committee will be entitled to identify the types of sukuk that may be released provided that they are compliant with Shari'ah. The committee, which is to be independent from EFSA and the issuing party, will consist of three experts familiar with the Islamic "Jurisprudence of Transactions" chosen by the issuing entity from a list of registered experts prepared by Dar Al-Ifta.
___ (c)2012 AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Visit AME Info (Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) at www.ameinfo.com Distributed by MCT Information
Services
Copyright (C) 2012, AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
