Tadawul hits the heights for Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Arabian Stock Exchange closed above the 7,700 mark yesterday for the first time since 2008 as the bourse continues its stellar rise this year.

Stocks on the Tadawul All-Share Index closed up 1.08 per cent to 7,758.66 in Riyadh. The last time the index was above 7,700 was in September 2008. The Tadawul is up more than 20 per cent since January.

Analysts speculated that the surge in equity trading in Saudi Arabia this year was attributable to fresh money entering the market from recent government compensation payments, as the state appropriates privately owned land and property to continue its development of the kingdom. Concern about a new land tax may also be driving investors away from traditional investments in land and to the stock market, analysts said. High oil prices are also thought to be helping to drive the boom.

UAE bourses rose on the lift from Saudi Arabia. The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed up 0.54 per cent at 1,669.18 with below-average volumes. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) closed 0.75 per cent higher to 2,587.67, the biggest rise in almost two weeks.

There was one large cross-trade of 5 million shares in Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank early in the ADX session, an analyst said.

Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development and Investment Company invited bids for main contract work on the emirate's Louvre museum, according to an advertisement in The National.

lmiller@thenational.ae

What is an ETF?

An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.

There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.

The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.

There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.

While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.

THE BIO

Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren

Favourite travel destination: Switzerland

Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers

Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

While you're here

Mina Al-Oraibi: Beirut's suffering is a direct result of a failed political system

Michael Young: From one crisis to the next, where is Lebanon headed?

Joyce Karam: US delegation to push for independent government

RESULTS

2.15pm Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m

Winner Shawall, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Majed Al Jahouri (trainer)

2.45pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,200m

Winner Anna Bella Aa, Fabrice Veron, Abdelkhir Adam

3.15pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,200m

Winner AF Thayer, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

3.45pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m

Winner Taajer, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel

4.15pm The Ruler of Sharjah Cup – Prestige (PA) Dh250,000 (D) 1,700m

Winner Jawaal, Jim Crowley, Majed Al Jahouri

4.45pm Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m

Winner Maqaadeer, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

MATCH INFO

Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)

Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Bugatti Chiron Super Sport - the specs:

Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16

Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto

Power: 1,600hp

Torque: 1,600Nm

0-100kph in 2.4seconds

0-200kph in 5.8 seconds

0-300kph in 12.1 seconds

Top speed: 440kph

Price: Dh13,200,000

Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:

Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16

Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto

Power: 1,500hp

Torque: 1,600Nm

0-100kph in 2.3 seconds

0-200kph in 5.5 seconds

0-300kph in 11.8 seconds

Top speed: 350kph

Price: Dh13,600,000

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Kumulus Water

Started: 2021

Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid

Based: Tunisia

Sector: Water technology

Number of staff: 22

Investment raised: $4 million

De De Pyaar De

Produced: Luv Films, YRF Films
Directed: Akiv Ali
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jaaved Jaffrey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara