AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, finance and economy briefs
Nov 20, 2012 (Menafn - AME Info - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --FTSE NASDAQ DUBAI UAE 20 INDEX ENDS FIVE-DAY LOSING STREAK: The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 Index closed at 1752.73 Tuesday, up 0.48 percent. Interior designer DEPA Ltd. surged 4.90 percent to close at 0.30. Global maritime port operator DP World slipped 0.60 percent to 11.53. Earlier in the day, the NASDAQ Dubai's regulator DFSA said it notified the bourse that it suspended the securities of Man Industries (India) Limited (ISIN US56164P1084) from the Official List of Securities of the DFSA. Trading of the secondary listed shares was halted as of today and would remain until further notice.
BAHRAIN BOURSE'S YEAR-TO-DATE LOSS WIDENS TO NINE PERCENT: Not a single share gained in Manama, with the Bahrain All-Share Index falling by a quarter percentage point Tuesday to close at 1,040.49 points. The Gulf kingdom hit the news Tuesday after Bahrain lawmaker Osama al-Tamimi burned an Israeli flag in the Bahraini parliamant in order to protest against the Israeli bombardement of Gaza. Shares of Bahrain Telecom or Batelco declined by 0.50 percent, while Islamic financial institiuon Ithmaar Bank managed to finish flat.
QATAR'S AL-MEERA ADVANCES ON BUYING SAFEER STORES IN OMAN : The Doha-based Qatar Exchange 20 Index added 0.20 percent to close at 8,396 points Tuesday amid higher trading turnover than Monday. Shares of Al Meera Consumer Goods Co. gained 0.32 percent, closing at QR157. While banks mostly advanced, shares of insurers lost, weighing on the gauge. Earlier in the day, Al Meera said it signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement to purchase the business and assets of Safeer stores in the Sultanate of Oman. The statement to the QE did not disclose a price for the purchase.
ABU DHABI BOURSE ADX STABILISES AT 2,660: Gaines in the property segment helped the ADX General Index to close flat at 2,660.80 Tuesday. Losses at market bellwether Etisalat, the UAE's first telco provider (off 0.40 percent at Dhs9.90) prevented the gauge from lending in the green. Earlier in the day, Gulf News reported that the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has said the emirate's gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to grow from this year's estimated 3.9 percent at an average annual rate of 5.7 percent between 2013-2016. RAK Properties and Sorouh Real Estate suported the market index by gaining 5.26 percent and 0.81 percent, respectively.
DUBAI MARKET ADVANCES ON A TECHNICAL REBOUND: The oversold Dubai exchange DFM, which hit a seven-week los yesterday, gained Tuesday 0.78 percent to hit 1,591.40, as market bellwether Emaar closed 2.24 percent higher at Dhs3.65. Kuwait's telecom provider Hitstelec gained the most (up 10.14 percent at Dhs0.815). In the third quarter, Hitstelec posted a loss attributable to the shareholders of KD380,786, down from a profit of 104,100 in the same period last year. Investment bank Shuaa Capital fell 1.75 percent to Dhs0.56. Some 115m shares were traded, valued at Dhs114.2m.
QATAR SETS UP 2.5BN JV WITH ITALY TO INVEST IN ITALIAN FIRMS: Qatar Holding has signed a joint venture agreement with Italy's strategic investment fund FSI to invest in Italian companies in sectors including food, fashion and luxury, furniture and design, tourism and leisure, Reuters has reported. The venture is aimed at investing in "leading businesses and at creating value through several levers, including sector consolidation and transformation through organic and international growth," FSI said. Under the terms of the accord, the joint venture will have total capital of up to EUR2bn (2.5bn), to be provided equally by both partners over the first four years.
ABU DHABI'S GDP ESTIMATED TO RISE 5.7 percent IN 2013-2016: Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has said the emirate's gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to grow from this year's estimated 3.9 percent at an average annual rate of 5.7 percent between 2013-2016, Gulf News has reported. "Forecasts for non-oil GDP reflect an average growth rate of 6.5 percent in the same period, indicating the steady progress among the government diversification program, supported by the compilation of infrastructure projects and joined with growing private sector investments," said the undersecretary of the ADDED, Mohammad Omar Abdullah.
GLOBAL INVESTMENT HOUSE PLANS TO DELIST: Kuwait's Global Investment House has announced it will ask shareholders on December 2 to approve delisting its shares from the bourse after failing to secure a regulatory waiver needed to implement its restructuring plan, Reuters has reported. The firm's shares have not traded in Kuwait since last December, when the bourse suspended the stock after Global accumulated losses exceeding 75 percent of its capital. Global, whose major shareholders include the governments of Kuwait and Dubai, is undergoing a second restructuring in three years after the company asked creditors in September 2011 to suspend payments under a 1.7bn debt plan agreed in 2009.
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