Banking stocks soared yesterday after consolidation rumours and a possible bailout agreement in Washington boosted market confidence.
Following months of falling liquidity through lower deposits and rising interbank interest rates, speculation that Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) were to join forces lifted their shares, which closed up 6.91 per cent and 4.29 per cent respectively.
Senior executives at both banks, however, said they were unaware of any possible merger talks.
"We discussed [the rumours] at our management meeting and we received no instructions from the board or the higher authorities," said Abdullah Salah Abdul Rahim, the chief operating officer of NBAD. "We have no information at all about a merger."
Eirvin Knox, the chief executive of ADCB, said: "I have no information on this. I am not aware of anything that is happening."
However, traders said some form of consolidation now looked inevitable since the credit crunch had begun to affect the GCC.
Mortgage lending is being cut, the Emirates interbank offered rate (Eibor) has been increasing since June and the Central Bank has had to step in to provide banks with a Dh50 billion (US$13.6bn) loan - all signs of a severe credit crunch. Yesterday, the Eibor increased to 3.96 per cent, compared to 3.76 per cent last Thursday, a huge increase that takes it to the highest level since early this year.
"There are some rumours that the Abu Dhabi market will witness some mergers and acquisitions in the banking and real estate sectors," said Ahmed Hamdy, the senior relationship manager at Prime Emirates. "ADCB is one of the banks likely to be involved," he said.
The rumours boosted the entire banking sector: Emirates NBD rose 4.79 per cent, Dubai Islamic Bank 5.63 per cent and First Gulf Bank 2.17 per cent. The banking indexes on the Dubai Financial Market and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange rose by 3.46 and 2.60 per cent respectively.
* With Reuters
afoxwell@thenational.ae
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950