Nomura is positive on GCC markets. Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters
Nomura is positive on GCC markets. Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters

GCC equities may turn around next year: market report



The GCC equity markets that have missed the global equities bonanza this year, may rally in 2018 as economic reforms start bearing fruits and investor enthusiasm rise on the back of Aramco share float and anticipation of market upgrades, according to a market report.

“The broadly accepted view is that the equity markets will remain in a tight trading range until around the middle of next year,” Tarek Fadlallah, the chief executive officer at Nomura Asset Management Middle East said in the ‘Decade of Disruption’ research report.

Several factors, he said, will come into focus post Eid al Fitr in 2018 including rising speculation over the inclusion of the Saudi Tadawul, the biggest Arab bourse by market capitalisation, into MSCI Emerging Market and FTSE indexes, that will draw out domestic buyers ahead of any formal announcements. Anticipation over Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering, which the kingdom said is on track for 2018, and other major privatisations deals across the region may also lure international investors to regional equities markets, he added.

The series of reforms announced over the past year should also begin to yield some initial results, or at least provide increased visibility, which will help reassure investors, according to the report.

“With expectations well anchored, there is scope for upside surprises from bigger than expected fiscal stimulus packages, lower bank reserve ratios that encourage lending, a spike in oil prices beyond current forecasts or an easing in geopolitical tensions — but these are low probability scenarios,” Fadlallah noted.

Governments in the Arabian Gulf region, which accounts for about a third of the world’s proven oil reserves, are implementing fiscal reforms and are trying to transform their economies with privatisation being the main pillar of diversification strategy. Saudi Arabia has taken the lead with plans to unlock value in several state assets including Aramco’s share float, which could yield estimated $100bn.

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The six-member economic bloc still relies heavily on the sale of crude for revenues and a fall in oil prices since the mid-2014 peak of $115 a barrel has forced the governments to cut spending slowing the pace of economic growth, which has dented the investor confidence. The MSCI GCC Countries index has dropped 2.6 per cent since the beginning of this year, which compares to the 35 per cent return by MSCI Asia and multiple record highs for the S&P 500 index in the US this year.

On a positive note, however, the evolution of the capital markets across the region, Saudi Arabia in particular, has been “impressive with tremendous work being done by the Capital Market Authority and the Tadawul in preparing for deeper, more diverse and more transparent markets,” he said.

“There are high expectations that the elevation of local markets, in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for example, into the major emerging market indices will lead to huge foreign buying, especially among indexed funds.”

Saudi Arabia last month announced several major investment initiatives at the three-day Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh including the $500bn Neom project, which the report said is a reflection of the country's economic policy ambitions, indicating dreaming big is perhaps necessary to meet the enormous challenges. Saudi Arabia is not the only Arabian Gulf state pushing ahead with ambitious development plans amid tougher economic conditions. Other sovereigns are also looking to carry on building the social and hard infrastructure schemes in partnership with foreign investors.

“Development ambitions across the region are encouraging but it’s obvious that a lot of work is still needed to attract foreign direct investment and facilitate greater participation in the local economies,” he said “Sovereign wealth funds, working with private investors and public institutions, can help smooth the transition and fund economic transformation.”

On the global front, Mr Fadlallah said the economy is performing well with synchronised growth underpinned by rising confidence, easy monetary conditions and a willingness to allow systemic debt to increase without any defined limits.

“The capital markets appear relaxed about the Fed’s gradual balance sheet unwinding so long as the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan continue to fund their asset buying trading desks with freshly printed Euros and Yen,” he said. “The JPM global composite PMI data and OECD unemployment rates have been trending favourably and are consistent with forecasts for continued growth.”

He however, was critical of equities valuations and said are not “justifiable or sustainable”.

The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

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Abu Dhabi race card

5pm Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige Dh110,000 1,400m

5.30pm Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige Dh110,000 1,400m

6pm Abu Dhabi Championship Listed Dh180,000 1,600m

6.30pm Maiden Dh80,000 1,600m

7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap Dh80,000 1,400m

7.30pm Handicap (TB) |Dh100,000 2,400m

Zakat definitions

Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.

Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.

Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Director: Goran Hugo Olsson

Rating: 5/5

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UJDA CHAMAN

Produced: Panorama Studios International

Directed: Abhishek Pathak

Cast: Sunny Singh, Maanvi Gagroo, Grusha Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla

Rating: 3.5 /5 stars

The Penguin

Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz

Creator: Lauren LeFranc

Rating: 4/5

SPECS
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The Buckingham Murders

Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu

Director: Hansal Mehta

Rating: 4 / 5

Gender pay parity on track in the UAE

The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.

"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."

Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.

"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.

As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general. 

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Where to donate in the UAE

The Emirates Charity Portal

You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Al Noor Special Needs Centre

You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.

Beit Al Khair Society

Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.

Dar Al Ber Society

Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.

Dubai Cares

Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.

Emirates Airline Foundation

Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.

Emirates Red Crescent

On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.

Gulf for Good

Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.

Noor Dubai Foundation

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).

The Details

Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5 

Company%20Profile
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
  • Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000 
  • Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000 
  • HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000 
  • Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000 
  • Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000 
  • Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000 
  • Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000 
  • Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
  • Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
  • Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000

Directed by Sam Mendes

Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays

4.5/5

How the bonus system works

The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.

The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.

There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).

All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.

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Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier

Results

UAE beat Saudi Arabia by 12 runs

Kuwait beat Iran by eight wickets

Oman beat Maldives by 10 wickets

Bahrain beat Qatar by six wickets

Semi-finals

UAE v Qatar

Bahrain v Kuwait

 

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.


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