Tuesday, May 22, 2012


 
Saudi SE             7029.35                +0.71% 
Dubai FM             1488.09                +1.47% 
Abu Dhabi SM         2468.49                +0.21% 
Kuwait SE            6415.24                -0.10% 
Doha SM              8423.30                +0.24% 
Muscat SM            5623.22                +0.08% 
Bahrain SE           1146.44                -0.21% 
Cairo SE             4878.37                +1.80% 
Amman                1878.74                -1.51% 
 
ICE Brent $/bbl       109.13                +2.10% 
Gold $/troy oz       1592.50                -0.01% 
Euro-USD                1.28                +0.55% 
DJIA                12504.48                +1.09%

By Nikhil Lohade

Of ZAWYA DOW JONES

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Persian Gulf stock markets are seen trading with a positive bias Tuesday as concerns about Greece exiting the euro zone eased slightly.

In the region, news flow remains light after the first-quarter earnings season and investors are seen mostly tracking global events in the summer months, one Muscat-based fund manager said.

Asian stocks climbed Tuesday, a day ahead of a European Union summit where leaders are expected to discuss measures to promote growth and ways of keeping Greece in the euro zone.

Investor sentiment has been boosted after the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations affirmed over the weekend that it wanted Greece to remain in the euro zone, and Greece's conservatives gained ground in weekend polls--suggesting that the country could produce a government that meets Europe's terms for remaining in the single currency.

The euro recovered a tad against the dollar in New York late Monday, but weakened slightly early Tuesday to $1.2795. Analysts say that the single currency could recover during the day as traders cut bets that the euro will fall ahead of the summit.

Oil prices were slightly up Tuesday, after snapping a six-session losing streak Monday tracking equity market gains. Nymex June crude futures were last up 7 cents at $92.64 a barrel.

U.A.E.: Dubai shares finished +1.5% at 1488.09 Monday, after losing some 10% this month.

Arabtec Construction expects the U.A.E. to remain a key target market over the next five years, and sees Aabar Investments' increased interest in the Dubai-based company underlining the sector's growth potential, according to its top executive.

Drake and Scull International CEO Khaldoun Tabari said Monday his company expects to win a $300 million pipeline contract in the second quarter of this year.

Initial price guidance for Dubai Islamic Bank's planned five-year, benchmark-sized, U.S. dollar Islamic bond, or sukuk, is about 375 basis points over mid swaps, a banker aware of the transaction said Monday.

Depa, a Dubai-based interior contracting company listed on Nasdaq Dubai, said it more than halved its first-quarter net loss to AED8.7 million U.A.E. dirhams ($2.37 million), from a loss of AED19.3 million in the year earlier period, as project work resumed following the hiatus caused by the economic downturn.

Abu Dhabi's market was up 0.2% at 2468.49 Monday; supported by real estate stocks.

Sorouh Real Estate rose 5.1% to AED1.03 and Aldar Properties +4.9% at AED1.08. The stocks remain in focus amid market speculation of some progress with regards to their planned merger, traders said.

SAUDI ARABIA: The Tadawul market ended +0.7% at 7029.35 Monday; petchem and bank stocks helped the benchmark index bounce back above the 7000 level.

The market is still down some 7% this month, mostly tracking a sharp decline in oil prices.

Some bargain buying Monday but volumes were relatively light, a trader noted; reckons the market will continue to track global risk sentiment in the near term.

Tabuk Cement Co. said Monday its board of directors has approved a plan to build a new production line to meet growing demand in the kingdom.

KUWAIT: The main gauge of stocks finished 0.1% lower at 6415.24 Monday.

QATAR: Doha's market ended +0.2% at 8423.30 Monday; propped up by financial and industry stocks.

BAHRAIN: The benchmark stocks index ended down 0.2% at 1146.44 Monday; the banking and hotel sectors dragged.

OMAN: Muscat's market closed up 0.1% at 5623.22 Monday, helped by industry stocks.

EGYPT: The EGX 30 Index closed 1.8% higher at 4878.37 Monday; the market is up some 35% for the year.

Traders expect the market to remain volatile in the coming days as the Arab country heads into its first free presidential elections in a post-Mubarak era starting Wednesday.

Telecom Egypt, the only provider of fixed-line services in the country, said Monday it has appointed Sayed Elgharabawy as chief commercial officer, the latest personnel change in the telco's pursuit of greater efficiency and cost savings.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE GULF: Mobile telephone subscribers in Egypt grew 24% on the year to 91.9 million in March, the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, or MCIT, said in a report Monday.

Iraq's revenues from oil sales in April climbed to $8.79 billion, the highest the Middle Eastern country has achieved for decades, the oil ministry said in a statement Monday, adding that Iraq had sold its oil at an average price of $116.8 a barrel.

Norwegian oil services company Aker Solutions ASA said Monday it has agreed to buy NPS Energy, a unit of Kuwait's National Petroleum Services Co., for an equity value of $350 million.

Institutional investors in the Arab Gulf are reducing return targets this year as the region's big sovereign wealth funds focus on spending at home, according to a survey from Invesco, an asset management firm based in Atlanta.

-By Nikhil Lohade, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1694; nikhil.lohade@dowjones.com; Twitter: @ZDJnews

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

22-05-12 0503GMT