Bahrain

Could 2009 mark the beginning for the recovery for GCC financial markets? We are not convinced yet, given our view that oil prices could fall further, and against the backdrop of... 2008-12-16

BMI View: The financial crisis has raised important questions about the Islamic finance industry, and we remain bearish Gulf sukuk, a position we first adopted in August 2007.

Interbank deposit rates in the Gulf have eased slightly after central banks followed the US Fed's 50bps rate cut this week, but we think the liquidity crisis has further to run, and... 2008-10-31

Interbank deposit rates in the Gulf have eased slightly after central banks followed the US Fed's 50bps rate cut this week, but we think the liquidity crisis has further to run, and... 2008-10-31

We may see some further stock market upside in the Gulf this morning, following the Dow Jones rally. Upward moves have tended to be fairly short-lived in these volatile times, but... 2008-10-29

No big surprise to anyone, we suspect, but our call that the Bahrain All-Share Index would fall through support at 2,300 has played out over the weekend, taking year-to-date losses... 2008-10-27

We remain bearish GCC equities and despite some measure of stabilisation in the Qatari and Omani bourses over the last two weeks following the panic selling witnessed in early October,... 2008-10-23

Recently released figures from the Islamic Finance Information Service (IFIS) concerning global sukuk issuance clearly illustrate our long-held view that the market is not favourable... 2008-10-22

Gulf markets followed their global counterparts in bouncing strongly yesterday, but while we think the uptick may have further to run in the short-term, we are reluctant to call it... 2008-10-14

On August 4, we examined the key implications of a US dollar bounce (which has been our core view since early July) on Middle Eastern currencies. With the greenback having rallied... 2008-10-06