In Thursday's Middle East papers

09 October 2008 06:00  [Source: ICIS news]

OMAN TRIBUNE

Front page

Stocks shrug off rate cut
Panic selling again swept global equity markets on Wednesday after a coordinated worldwide cut in interest rates failed to quell a drumbeat of fears over a global recession, with investors charging into gold and other safe havens.

Missing Israeli airman died in 1988: Hezbollah
An Israeli airman captured in Lebanon in 1986 escaped two years later but probably died while trying to reach Israel on foot, Hezbollah said in a report published by an Israeli newspaper on Wednesday.

Business

Gulf shares extend fall, MSM ends below 7,000
Stock markets in the Gulf region tumbled for the fourth day running on Wednesday but the Saudi bourse, the region’s largest, rebounded after an international rate cut while the Egyptian market made up some ground. 

Bank Muscat net jumps 44% to RO90m in nine months
Bank Muscat (SAOG), the nation’s leading financial services institution, announced on Wednesday that the net profit surged 43.9% to RO90.1m for the nine months ended September 30, 2008, as against RO62.6m reported during the same period in 2007. 

KHALEEJ TIMES

Front page

US, European central banks united as crisis grew
Top US and European central bank officials shared increasing alarm over worsening economic and credit conditions with one another over the weekend in conversations that culminated in an unprecedented decision to cut rates in unison on Wednesday.

NATO looks to new tactics in Afghan opium war
NATO defence ministers will hear a plea Thursday to take new steps to crack down on the opium trade in Afghanistan as the illicit business generates vital funds for the Taliban-led insurgency.

Business

UAE can weather liquidity crisis, says standard & poor’s report
The UAE has the resources to ease liquidity constraints at short notice if the current cash crunch starts to bite too hard, Standard & Poor’s (S&P’s), a leading global credit rating agency said on Wednesday.

Dubai’s non-oil trade with asean countries increases 30.4%
The non-oil trade between Dubai and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) countries, which includes Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Brunei and Laos, accounted for Dhs23 billion in the first half of 2008, compared to Dh17bn recorded during the same period of 2007.

ARAB TIMES

Front page

Arab stocks plunge in panic‘a catastrophe’ 
Stock markets plunged across the Arab world on Tuesday as panic over the global financial crisis gripped investors, wiping billions of dollars off share values.

Firms, expat sponsors of illegalsto face tough disciplinary action 
The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry said here Tuesday it would take strict measures against illegal residents to be caught following a grace period that ends on Oct 15.

Business

Best time to buy, not sell: Finmin 
Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shimali said that the national economy was strong and urged dealers of the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) to refrain from selling their shares.

KSE sheds 315.8 points extending losses for 3rd day after global rout 
Kuwait stocks plunged on Tuesday as sell-offs continued unabated for the third day in a row, triggered by the global gloom over the financial  crunch. The market hemorrhaged 315.8 points  led by  Zain and Kuwait Finance House even as other frontlines stocks mostly  extended their losses.

ARAB NEWS

Front page

Kingdom exploring ways to deal with world financial crisis: Sultan
Saudi Arabia is exploring ways to deal with the current crisis in global financial markets, Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, said yesterday. 

Israel shuts all West Bank crossings
Israel has closed off the West Bank ahead of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, which started at sunset yesterday. 

Business

Saudi investors feel let down by SAMA’s inaction
The Saudi stock market reopened after the Eid Al-Fitr holiday amid a global financial storm. On Monday the market shed nearly 10% of its value.

SABB reports net profit of SR2.26bn
SABB recorded a net profit of SR2.26bn ($603m) for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2008, up SR361m ($96m), or 19%, compared with SR1.90bn ($507m) during the same period in 2007.

TEHRAN TIMES

Front page

President says direct subsidy plan set to begin
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad announced on Wednesday that the implementation of the economic reform plan would begin soon.

Intl. children’s theater festival opens in Isfahan
The Isfahan International Theater Festival for Children and Young Adults opened during a ceremony at Isfahan’s Honar Hall on October 7.

Business

Russia, Indonesia shut exchanges as rout worsens; Brazil drops
Russia, Indonesia, Ukraine, and Romania shut their stock exchanges and Brazilian stocks fell to the lowest in two years in the worst week for emerging markets in at least two decades on concern that a deepening credit crisis will halt global growth.

Britain to suffer full year of recession next year, IMF warns
Britain will suffer its first full year of recession since 1991 next year as the global economy enters a “major downturn” triggered by the most dangerous financial shock since the 1930s, the IMF said on Wednesday.

ALJAZEERA

Front page

Obama 'widens lead' after debate 
Barack Obama, the US Democratic party candidate, has increased his lead over rival John McCain following the second US presidential debate, according to opinion polls.

US admits Afghan civilian deaths 
Far more civilians and children were killed in several US air raids on a village in Afghanistan in August that was first acknowledged, a US military investigation has concluded.

Business

Central banks stem market bleeding 
Asia stock markets have moved cautiously higher following a co-ordinated move by central banks across the world to cut their key interest rates in an attempt to stave off an economic meltdown.

Bid to halt Egypt-Israel gas deal 
A lawyer in Egypt has demanded that the government halt its gas exports to Israel, Al Jazeera reports.

THE DAILY STAR

Front page

Parliament puts off talks on reviving Constitutional Council
The Lebanese Parliament on Wednesday postponed talks on a draft law that calls for an extension of the deadline to appoint members to the country's Constitutional Council, whose activity has been paralyzed since 2005.

LAF officers to visit Pentagon for talks on aid newspaper
A high-ranking Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) delegation is expected to head to the Pentagon next week to set a training, equipping and arming timetable, according to a report published by pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Wednesday.

Business

IMF credits Banque du Liban for fending off credit crunch
The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) senior resident representative to Lebanon praised the country's central bank late Tuesday, saying the banking sector had few direct links to the current financial crisis and that Lebanon would likely prove more resilient than other emerging markets.

Experts discuss ways to pump up the volume on the BSE
The head of the Higher Privatization Council said on Wednesday that listing the shares of privatized companies on the Beirut bourse would boost volume and increase liquidity in the stock market.

GULF DAILY NEWS

Front page

Economy stable 
Bahrain's economic and financial stability was yesterday stressed amid mounting regional and global concerns. "Bahrain has adopted for decades clear, sound and systematic financial and economic policies," Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa said yesterday.

Free trade deal on the way 
The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) is on the verge of signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Japan, it was revealed yesterday. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Middle East regional head Norihiko Kato said talks were at an advanced staged and could be concluded shortly.

Business

Key agreement boost for global Islamic finance 
The Bahrain-based International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) has launched the world's first-ever standardised Master Agreement in Islamic finance. The IIFM Master Agreement for Treasury Placement (MATP) can be used by financial institutions across the globe for their over-the-counter (OTC) Commodity Murabaha transactions.

Sakana set to launch $30m project 
Sakana Holistic Housing Solution, as a part of its property consultancy venture, will shortly launch Nasmah West to be built in Juffair. The freehold project is valued at $30m and is being developed by RMK projects, a division of R M Kooheji & Sons.

 

By: Staff Reporter
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