🚨BREAKING: SAUDI ARABIA TO HOST THE 2034 WORLD CUP
FIFA has officially confirmed Saudi Arabia as the host of the 2034 World Cup, marking a bold step for football’s future in the Middle East. This is a chance to showcase Saudi Arabia’s transformation and its commitment to global sports. With its growing investment in infrastructure, culture, and innovation, the kingdom is set to deliver a world-class tournament like never before. Source: The Guardian, Mario Nawfal on X
In a new milestone, the combined market capitalization of Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges has reached $1 trillion value for the first time.
The surge in market cap is driven by a string of new share listings in the last couple of years.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has about $930bn worth of assets, said it intended to cut the proportion of funds invested overseas to between 18 and 20%, down from 30%.
Yasir Al Rumayyan, governor of PIF and chairman of Saudi Aramco and the FII Institute, speaking at the start of FII8 in Riyadh on Tuesday said there needs to be a global shift in focus from short term gains to sustainable growth supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI) that could benefit both economies and societies. The head of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund added that in a world marred by uncertainty, countries which can bridge gaps between East and West are essential. He said Saudi Arabia is a “super connector” thanks to its unique resources and strategic geographic location, which enables it to drive investments in infrastructure and technology. Source: FT, Zawya
The world's largest oil exporter is preparing to raise output from December as it resigns itself to lower global prices.
Saudi Arabia is ready to abandon its unofficial price target of $100 a barrel for crude as it prepares to increase output, in a sign that the kingdom is resigned to a period of lower oil prices, according to people familiar with the country’s thinking. The world’s largest oil exporter and seven other members of the Opec+ producer group had been due to unwind long-standing production cuts from the start of October. But a two-month delay sparked speculation over whether the group would ever be able to raise output, with the price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, briefly dropping below $70 this month to its lowest since December 2021. Source: FT >>> https://lnkd.in/eYwDvYcQ
Saudi aramco and the rest...
Source: Visual Capitalist
Foreign investors have flocked to saudiaramco’s $12 billion share sale, people familiar with the matter said
This marks a turnaround from the oil giant’s 2019 listing that ended up as a largely local affair. The deal attracted significant interest from foreign investors, according to the people, who declined be identified as the information is private. It wasn’t immediately clear exactly how much demand came from overseas, but those investors put in enough bids to more than fully cover the offering, the people said. Source: Bloomberg
The UAE's ascent.
Do you know that the UAE's stock markets have a larger market capitalization than Brazil's or Spain's? Do you also know that the UAE's IPOs have been 2nd worldwide in raising capital? Source: Ryan Lemand, PhD, Bloomberg
Looks like saudi arabia's balance of payments breakeven oil price (oil price that avoids a current account deficit) is now close to $85 a barrel...
This could explain why there is some scale back from NEOM + the need for oil prices to stay higher for longer... Source: Brad Setser
