Regular readers of this blog will know that I have been to Dubai a couple of times over the past few years, most recently in March 2010 (see Dubai: Notes From A City At The Cross Roads) and have commented several times on the emirate’s financial crisis. Well, now I have come back from another… [Read more]
Following a rally in Middle Eastern equity markets, driven by hikes in oil prices and the Dubai World’s debt restructuring, several bourses are up against key technical resistance. With momentum indicators, such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) looking firmly overbought, I believe that a near-term correction is increasingly likely in Dubai, Saudi and Qatari… [Read more]
Having surpassed the US$1trn mark, we take a look at Islamic banking and its outlook over the next couple of years. Liz Martins, Head of Middle East and North Africa analysis at Business Monitor International, discusses some opportunities and threats of an industry that is expected to double in size over the coming five years.
Rumours are still swirling on the subject of the Dubai World (DW) restructuring, and I am not yet convinced that the time to initiate a long-term bullish position on Dubai stocks has come, in spite of the recent rally. I have heard various theories on DW, and I am inclined to the optimistic side: the… [Read more]
Having just returned from my latest business trip to Dubai, I have to report that confidence in general remains very subdued. For sheer tragic parade-raining, bubble-bursting symbolism, you can’t beat the Burj Khalifa tower (renamed at the last minute to appease the neighbours and then closed soon after opening for ‘technical reasons’ – for three… [Read more]
The end of month closes across asset classes could be the most important since March 2009, when a clear reversal pattern prompted us to turn bullish towards equities. This time, a weak close would suggest an end to the rally of the past 10 months, with the potential for some significant medium-term downside for equities… [Read more]
Suggestions of a technical default on November 26 by UAE-based Dubai World have sent shockwaves through the financial world. Not only are creditworthiness concerns reaching boiling point, but global equity markets, too, seem to initially have gone into panic mode. Business Monitor’s Liz Martins and Terry Alexander discuss the implications of a debt default by… [Read more]
