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December 13, 2021
Global markets down on resurgent pandemic fears
Global markets witnessed broad-based sell-off and while some markets like the US recovered to some extent, others like Japan and Germany were hit hard. A slew of economic data from CPI numbers to employment figures which released over the month was overshadowed by the recent resurgent pandemic fears. Market Performance & Key Metrics Source: Refinitiv The S&P 500 ended the month with a slight fall of 0.8%. In a market that is already concerned about the spread of the new...
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December 9, 2021
Kuwait stocks fell in November driven by sharp fall in oil prices
Kuwait, in line with the broader GCC market, ended the month in red, fuelled by sharp fall in oil prices. The growing fears over a new COVID-19 variant also led to profit taking at the end of the month. Market Performance & Key Metrics Source: Refinitiv, Boursa Kuwait All sectors, except Healthcare and Insurance, declined in November. Insurance was the top gainer, rising 7.6% followed by healthcare which recorded modest gains of 1.8%. Basic materials and Industrials sector indices registered...
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December 7, 2021
GCC Fixed Income: Ratings outlook of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain upgraded to stable
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain saw outlook upgrades in November. Moody’s has revised Saudi Arabia’s outlook from negative to stable on expectation that country would reverse most of its 2020 debt increase while maintaining fiscal buffers. S&P has revised Bahrain's outlook to stable from negative, citing the fiscal reforms undertaken to strengthen its economy. Higher oil prices and support from other GCC members are also expected to help the country improve its fiscal position. The countries had also issued bonds during...
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December 6, 2021
Oil declines in November on concerns of lower demand owing to COVID-19 variant
Oil prices declined steeply in November, marking its largest monthly decline since March 2020. The fall follows the multi-year high prices posted by the commodity in October. Concerns over lower demand on account of new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, and expectation of increase in supply due to release of Strategic Petroleum Reserves by the U.S pressured prices during the month. Performance of Oil Source: Refinitiv U.S plans to release about 50 million barrels of oil from its reserves. China, Japan, India,...
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November 30, 2021
Blue Chip Laggards in GCC Equity Markets
The GCC Equity markets like the rest of the major world markets have been having a stellar run in 2021. Until November 21st the S & P GCC Composite Index has generated Year-to-Date (YTD) return of 35.6%, which has not been seen for many years in these markets. Valuation-wise, GCC composite index trades at P/E ratio of 23.3 and the current index value is still at a discount of 47.4% compared to its historical peak value. The performance of the...
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November 17, 2021
Bitcoin and Ethereum touch all-time high in October
October marked a record-breaking month for cryptocurrencies with Bitcoin touching its all-time high in October. With bitcoin price soaring, the market cap for bitcoin also breached the 1 trillion threshold. The second largest cryptocurrency – Ethereum, also touched its all-time high of USD 4,402 in October, on the back of upward crypto momentum and a recent technical upgrade to the Ethereum network. Ethereum based meme cryptocurrency – Shiba Inu soared 155% in the last week of October and 1,000% over...
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November 16, 2021
Most ESG Indices are positive in October; ESG Instruments in GCC oversubscribed
ESG is no longer driven by altruism. As we can see from the table, ESG index has mostly outperformed its parent index in countries like US, Japan and Canada. These attractive returns are luring investors towards instruments and institutions having higher ESG scores. One reason could be that higher ESG rated companies tend to perform well in the long term on account of better governance and are more sustainable. ESG Indices - Performance Source: Refinitiv Not only equities, the issue...
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November 14, 2021
Oil marches upward in October on supply concerns
Oil prices in October hovered over their highest since 2014, with demand pressures exceeding supply. Expectation of higher natural gas prices encouraging a switch to oil and continued relaxation of travel restrictions supported prices. Supply is also expected to be tighter with Saudi Arabia’s oil minister dismissing calls for a steeper increase in output. IEA expects current energy crunch to boost oil demand by 500,000 bpd. It estimates the resulting supply gap to be at 700,000 bpd until OPEC+ increases...
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November 11, 2021
GCC Fixed Income: UAE issues debt for the first time at federal level
UAE federal government has raised USD 4 billion in its debt capital market debut with orders over USD 22.5 billion, an oversubscription of 5.6x. This is the first time that UAE raises funds at a federal level. The bonds were issued in three tranches with 10, 20 and 40 year tenors. It plans to issue more dollar-denominated bonds in 2022 and would also be exploring green bonds and local currency debt. Another issuance is that of Saudi Arabia. The country...
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November 10, 2021
GCC markets gain in October on rise in oil prices and strong earnings
GCC markets were positive for the month of October strengthened by strong earnings and sustained increase in oil prices. S&P GCC composite index rose by 2.3%, with Kuwait, Qatar and Abu Dhabi leading the gainers. Saudi Arabia’s main index rose 1.8% in October and had reached 15-year highs during the month. Dubai gained the least among GCC markets at 0.7%. GCC Market Performance Source: Refinitiv Among the GCC blue chip companies, the best performer was Al Rajhi Bank (Saudi Arabia),...