Sunday, May 20, 2012


 
Saudi SE             6966.37                -1.88% 
Dubai FM             1475.58                +0.65% 
Abu Dhabi SM         2467.85                +0.03% 
Kuwait SE            6429.09                -0.13% 
Doha SM              8455.33                -0.15% 
Muscat SM            5656.77                +0.23% 
Bahrain SE           1151.52                -0.41% 
Cairo SE             4890.30                -1.31% 
Amman                1924.24                +0.61% 
 
ICE Brent $/bbl       107.14                -2.02% 
Gold $/troy oz       1591.90                +0.55% 
Euro-USD                1.28                -0.00% 
DJIA                12369.38                -0.60%

By Tim Falconer

Of ZAWYA DOW JONES

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Egyptian stocks will be closely watched by investors this week as the Arab country gears up for its first free presidential elections that start Wednesday.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund asked Egypt to "quickly" address the economic challenges it faces to implement an economic program within weeks of the presidential elections, according to the fund's regional director.

A viable economic recovery plan that enjoys broad political support is seen as critical for the IMF to approve a $3.2 billion loan to help the country deal with its financial difficulties.

"Ultimately, the geopolitical importance of Egypt means that we think an IMF deal will be forthcoming, which should prevent a disorderly devaluation of the pound," said William Jackson, an emerging markets economist at London-based Capital Economics. "However, it looks like Egypt may be taken to the brink of crisis first."

Stocks in the Persian Gulf are likely to draw little comfort Sunday from a downbeat finish on global markets late last week. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 73.11 points, or 0.6%, to 12369.38 on Friday, bringing its losing streak to six days. The blue-chip index has fallen in 12 of the past 13 days.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery settled down $1.08, or 1.2%, at $91.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday, their lowest price since Oct. 26., as macro-economic worries and weak supply-demand fundamentals weighed on the market.

SAUDI ARABIA: The benchmark Tadawul Index closed 1.9% lower at 6966.37 Saturday, undermined by petchem stocks following a sharp pullback in the price of crude oil futures.

Analysts at NCB Capital said continued global economic uncertainty poses a risk to the Saudi Arabian economy.

"While progress has been made towards resolving the Eurozone debt crisis, a permanent solution still remains elusive," they said.

Similarly, growth concerns in the U.S. and emerging economies continues to weigh on global sentiment and all these factors have a potential to hold back Saudi Arabia's growth momentum with lower oil demand and prices the key initial trigger, the NCB Capital analysts added.

However, NCB Capital also noted that the Saudi stock market's compelling valuation coupled with the good profit growth expectations makes it well positioned to grow both in the short and medium-to-long term.

In terms of stocks, Nama Chemicals tumbled 10% to SAR17.65, while Saudi Kayan dropped 2.1% to SAR16.20. Heavyweight Sabic slipped 1.8% to SAR94.

U.A.E.: Dubai's market closed 0.7% higher at 1475.58 Thursday, while in Abu Dhabi, the benchmark index there finished flat at 2467.85.

In terms of stocks, Drake & Scull gained 2.2% to AED0.797, while Tabreed soared 3.4% to AED1.23.

In Abu Dhabi, Taqa dropped 2.5% to AED1.17. The company last week said it is planning $2.25 billion of capital expenditures this year after posting a more than three-fold rise in first-quarter net profit.

Elsewhere, shares of Etisalat ended 0.2% higher at AED8.73.

KUWAIT: The market finished down 0.1% at 6429.09 Thursday.

Kuwait's Alargan International Real Estate Co. said Thursday that it has secured the approval of a local lender to grant it bank facilities worth 5 million Kuwaiti dinars ($17.9 million) and that it's in advanced talks with the same bank to get additional facilities of KWD6.7 million. Its shares fell 7.1% to KWD0.158.

QATAR: Doha's market closed Thursday 0.2% lower at 8455.33.

BAHRAIN: The main gauge of stocks closed down 0.4% at 1151.52.

OMAN: Muscat's market ended 0.2% higher at 5656.77 Thursday.

EGYPT: The market closed down 1.3% at4890.30 Thursday.

Traders said investors remain cautious ahead of this weeks elections. Most analysts expect Egypt's operating environment to remain challenging over the next 12-18 months in view of the difficult credit and business conditions, which are driven by the government's weak fiscal position.

In a push for more efficiency, majority state-owned Telecom Egypt, the only provider of fixed-line services in the country, has halved the size of its executive management team to just six members. Its shares ended Thursday 4.1% lower at EGP12.37.

Elsewhere, shares of Orascom Construction Industries dipped 0.2% to EGP273.26. The company said Thursday that shareholders have approved the demerger of its construction and fertilizer businesses.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE GULF: Government-related companies in the United Arab Emirates have to repay $30 billion of maturing loans this year and face a "significant" amount of debt falling due in 2014 and 2015, the International Monetary Fund said.

Defying signs of a global slowdown, sales of mobile devices in the Middle East and Africa rose 16% in the first quarter, fueled a growing appetite for smartphones, while embattled Nokia Corp. remains the region's top handset vendor, according to research firm Gartner.

Jordan's Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued a new tender to buy 100,000 metric tons of wheat, according to an announcement posted on its website.

U.S.-based energy services giant Halliburton Co (HAL) has won a $95 million contract from Russian state oil producer OAO Gazprom Neft (SIBN.RS) to test and complete 11 wells at the untapped Badra oil field in eastern Iraq, the firm said in a statement Thursday.

The Iranian government has ordered the country's second-largest telecoms operator MTN Irancell to extend its network to cover Abu Musa and other disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, after Iranian visitors to Abu Musa received cellphone messages welcoming them to the United Arab Emirates.

Iraq said Saturday that six international companies have submitted bids to build a 1,500-megawatt power plant in the central Iraqi province of Anbar.

-By Tim Falconer, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1690; tim.falconer@dowjones.com

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

20-05-12 0426GMT