Jan. 7--DFM UP SLIGHTLY, LED BY SHUAA: The Dubai Financial Market on Wednesday gained 1.57 percent to close on 1,771. Shuaa Capital was the day's big gainer, up 14.50 percent, while Emaar rose 3.16 percent. Arabtec fell 7.27 percent. In Abu Dhabi, the ADX fell 0.56 percent to end the day on 2,541. The index's most active stock was Sharjah Islamic Bank, which lost 8.60 percent. Sorouh gained 6.81 percent.

ABRAAJ EYES BUYOUT OPPORTUNITIES: Dubai-based Abraaj Capital, the Middle East's biggest private buyout firm, is considering dozens of buyout opportunities, a 'fair proportion' of which are listed companies it wants to take private, Arif Naqvi, Abraaj's group chief executive officer, told Bloomberg. The best opportunities are in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Libya, Turkey and India in industries including oil and gas, health care and education, Naqvi said.

DGCX RECORDS 26 PERCENT GROWTH: The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) said it recorded 26 percent year-on-year growth with 1.14 million contracts, valued at $57.5bn, traded last year. Average daily volume touched just over 4,500 contracts last year, an increase of 28 percent compared with 2007. Since inception in November 2005, over 2.6 million contracts have been traded with a value in excess of $107bn.

KUWAIT PLANS BONDS TO HELP STRUGGLING FIRMS: Kuwait may issue Islamic bonds, or sukuk, on behalf of investment firms struggling to borrow funds amid the financial crisis. Daily Al Rai said the government had finalised plans for a bill to issue sukuk or other Islamic financing instruments such as murabaha, using qualified firms' assets as collateral against the bonds. The plan may require approval from the Gulf state's parliament.

MOODY'S LOWERS BAHRAIN RATINGS: Moody's Investors Service yesterday changed the outlook on Bahrain's sovereign ratings to negative from stable. These ratings are the country's A2 local and foreign currency government bond ratings, the A2 country ceiling for foreign currency bank deposits and the Aa3 country ceiling for foreign currency bonds. Bahrain's country ceiling for local currency bank deposits and country ceiling for local currency bonds remain at Aa2. The change in outlook was prompted by the steep decline in oil prices below Bahrain's fiscal break-even level.

ARAB BOURSES FACE DIFFICULT YEAR: A new report by investment bank Beltone Financial says Arab stock prices are unlikely to rebound strongly this year or early next year, Gulf Daily News has reported. The bank, one of the largest in Egypt, also said lower oil prices and falling revenues from tourism may hit economic growth in Egypt and the Gulf region this year harder than expected.

FORMER GFS OFFICIAL FINED $70,000: The Dubai Financial Services Authority released a statement yesterday saying it has fined former GFS Investments Compliance Reporting Officer Roberto Da Silva $70,000 for 'failing to carry out his duties as a compliance officer adequately'. The statement said DFSA investigated Da Silva's conduct between May 17, 2007, the date that GFS was licensed, to October 31, 2007, the date of his resignation from GFS. The GFS investigation had resulted the firm's operations being suspended in September and some employees banned from operating in the Dubai International Financial Centre for five years. The statement said Da Silva acknowledged the regulator's concerns about his conduct as an authorised individual of GFS.

-----

To see more of AME Info, go to http://www.ameinfo.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.