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11/02/2024 01:38:06 pm

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Saudi Arabian King’s Actions, Rise in Crude Oil Price Boost Dubai Stocks

King Salman

(Photo : ReutersREUTERS/Mandel Ngan/Pool) Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Salman bin Sultan poses before a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (unseen) in a terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, May 13, 2014.

The two-month salary bonus ordered last week by the new Saudi Arabian ruler, King Salman, and the rise in crude prices translate into better performance of the Dubai bourse.

The windfall for state workers, pensioners and students would cost the Saudi Arabian government up to SAR70 billion or $18.6 billion. It is equivalent to 8 percent of the national budget for 2015 or 2.5 percent of Saudi's GDP in 2014.

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Meanwhile, Brent Crude prices increased 8 percent to $52.99 bbl on Friday on news that the number of rigs drilling for crude oil in the U.S. went down 7 percent last week. Experts believe the numbers are indicators that crude oil has bottomed out.

In a note to clients, Nomura head of oil research Gordon Kwan said with a projected 30 to 40 percent slump in drilling rigs in North America for 2015, coupled with spending cuts at about the same rate by oil firms, are expected to support the recovery of oil prices toward the end of this year.

Kwan said the 15 to 20 percent drop in U.S. oil production will remove the 1.5 to 2 million barrels a day of oversupply, reports Marketwatch.

Livetradingnews reports that those two developments resulted in the Dubai benchmark rising sharply on Sunday by 4.5 percent, which closed at 3,840 points. It was the largest daily gain in six weeks.

Leading the gainers is Conglomerate Dubai Investments, which enjoyed a 13.8 percent appreciation in its shareprice on news of a higher dividend for year 2014. The payout would be 12 percent cash and 6 percent bonus shares.

It is higher than the 7 percent cash dividend and 7 percent bonus shares the previous year.

Also helping boost Conglomerate's stock was the board approval of a major stake buyout in Al Mal Capital, an investment firm.

Other gainers were the Abu Dhabi index by 2.2 percent, National Bank of Abu Dhabi by 4.3 percent, First Gulf Bank by 2.9 percent and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank by 3.2 percent.

Of the eight UAE banks, only the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank had disappointing results, wrote NBAD Securities.

The Kuwait and Oman bourses logged 1 percent and 0.2 percent expansion, respectively.


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