Comment & Analysis

UPDATE 1-S.Korea NPS denies Sydney building purchase - AFX - Mon 23 Nov, 03:31 AM
SYDNEY/SEOUL, Nov 23 (Reuters) - South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) denied a report of its pending purchase of an Sydney office building, but its overseeing ministry said the fund had received an investment proposal from the preferred buyer of the property.

Egypt's Beltone Financial sets up Libya subsidiary - AFX - Mon 23 Nov, 03:09 AM
By Shaimaa Fayed TRIPOLI, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Egyptian investment bank Beltone Financial has begun operations in Libya, hoping to take advantage of a potential boom in new share offerings, a company official said on Sunday.

Investment firm Chieftain Capital to split -WSJ - AFX - Mon 23 Nov, 02:59 AM
NEW YORK, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Chieftain Capital Management, an investment firm with about $3 billion in assets, is breaking up following a rift among its managers, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Sunday.

Taiwan stocks almost flat; Mediatek weighs - AFX - Mon 23 Nov, 02:54 AM
TAIPEI, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks inched down 0.06 percent on Monday as uncertainty over the strength of economic recovery and consumer spending triggered selling in tech heavyweights such as Mediatek As of 0152 GMT, the main TAIEX share index had fallen 0.73 points to 7,682.24. 'We are still waiting for the next batch of data to tell us more precisely how technology companies' sales will turn out, ' said Tom Tang, a vice president at Masterlink Investment Advisory. 'But before those numbers come, foreign investors are going to want to pocket gains in tech shares.' Chip designer Mediatek, the most-active stock by turnover, dropped 0.76 percent, while UMC, the world's second largest contract chip maker, declined 0.63 percent.

UPDATE 1-Sembcorp Industries in $1 bln Oman JV deal - AFX - Mon 23 Nov, 12:28 AM
SINGAPORE, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Singapore's Sembcorp Industries has signed a joint venture deal with Oman Investment Corp to build a water and power project worth $1 billion.

Business coalition calls for firm CO2 treaty - Financial Times - Sun 22 Nov, 05:35 PM
The private sector investment needed to tackle climate change will not be made without a binding international deal on carbon emissions, according to the head of a big business coalition.

INDICATORS - Egypt - Nov 22 - AFX - Sun 22 Nov, 02:08 PM
--- INTEREST RATES --- Latest Date Pvs Rate 4 weeks ago 91-day T-bill yield 10.116 24/11/09 10.06 ----- 182-day T-bill yield 10.360 17/11/09 9.974 9.896 266-day T-bill yield 10.810 24/11/09 10.219 ---- 273-day T-bill yield 10.469 17/11/09 10.211 9.781 350-day T-bill yield 9.806 1/9/09 9.794 10.273 357-day T-bill yield 10.528 17/11/09 10.239 10.237 364-day T-bill yield 10.981 24/11/09 10.263 10.242 Central bank (CBSU.PK - news) discount rate 8.5 2/8/09 9.0 9.0 Central bank o/n deposit 8.25 17/9/09 8.5 8.5 Central bank o/n lending 9.75 17/8/09 10.0 10.0 Overnight interbank 8.263 19/11/09 8.280 8.268 --- MONTHLY DATA --- Month Pvs Yr ago Countrywide CPI change Oct 12.8 10.2 21.2 (year-on-year, percent) Countrywide CPI index Oct 145.6 142.8 129.2 Urban consumer prices Oct 13.3 10.8 20.2 (year/year, pct change) Urban consumer price Oct 144.4 141.3 127.5 index Core (Berlin: LJ1.BE - news) inflation Oct 6.5 6.3 22.3 (year-on-year, percent) Producer price index Sept 152.4 152.8 163.3 Foreign reserves ($bln) Oct 34.03 33.51 35.03 Oil output (mln tonnes) Sept 2,889 2,974 2,891 Suez Canal ($mln) Oct 398.9 382.5 467.5 Money supply M2 Sept 8.99 7.1 14.07 (pct change yr/yr) --- QUARTERLY DATA --- Q4 2008/09* Q3 2008/09 Q4 2007/2008 (*provisional figures) (all in millions of dollars) Trade balance -5,680 -4,866 -6,626 Exports 5,915 5,658 8,518 Oil 2,416 2,607 4,552 Non-oil 3,498 3,051 3,966 Imports -11,595 -10,524 -15,144 Net services 2,878 2,158 4,170 Goods and services balance -2,802 -2,708 -2,456 Transfers 1,807 1,790 2,945 Current account balance -994 -918 489 Capital account 702 -1347 3,933 Net errors/omissions -743 469 -3,916 OVERALL BALANCE -1,035 -1,796 506 Q4 2008/09 Q3 2008/09 Q4 2007/08 Tourism receipts ($mln) 1,832 2,188 2,393 Q1 2009/10 Q4 2008/09 Q1 2008/09 GDP growth (percent) 4.9 4.7 5.8 --- ANNUAL DATA --- 2008/2009* 2007/2008 2006/2007 (*preliminary figures) Real GDP growth (% change) 4.7 7.2 7.1 BALANCE OF PAYMENTS ($mln) -3,378 5,420 5,282 Trade balance -25,173 -23,415 -16,291 Exports 25,169 29,356 22,018 Oil 11,005 14,473 10,108 Non-oil 14,164 14,883 11,910 Imports -50,342 -52,771 -38,308 Net services 12,502 14,966 11,771 Goods and services -12,671 -8,449 -4,792 Transfers 8,247 9,338 7,061 Current account -4,424 888 2,269 Capital account 1,381 7,558 853 Net errors/omissions -335 -3,025 -2,160 --- LONG-TERM CREDIT RATINGS --- Standard & Poors BB plus (non-investment grade) Moody's Ba1 (non-investment grade) Fitch BB plus (non-investment grade) * The base for the index has been changed to January 2007 Other notes: 1. Fiscal year is July-June. 2. Data from Central Bank except for the following.

Dubai reshuffles board of state investment unit - AFX - Sat 21 Nov, 06:46 AM
DUBAI, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The ruler of Dubai has reshuffled the board of the Investment Corporation of Dubai, the state conglomerate that owns Emirates airlines, naming two of his sons as directors, a decree posted on his website showed.

Mexico FDI plunges 37 pct in first 9 months of 2009 - AFX - Sat 21 Nov, 02:55 AM
MEXICO CITY, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment in Mexico plunged 37 percent in the first nine months of 2009 as the world financial crisis bit into capital flows, according to data released by the government on Friday.

Synthos buys shares worth $93 mln in two firms - AFX - Fri 20 Nov, 05:49 PM
WARSAW, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Polish chemicals maker Synthos has bought shares in bathroom fittings producer Cersanit and developer Echo Investment for a total 260 million zlotys ($93 million), the companies said.

Glance-UPDATE 2-Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitions 03:12 PM [ AFX ]
Bankers, regulators eye next generation of CoCos 02:35 PM [ AFX ]
GLOBAL MARKETS-Year-end positioning, Ukraine worries hit stocks 02:05 PM [ AFX ]
Russia's VEB prepared to finance AvtoVAZ -Ifax 01:54 PM [ AFX ]

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