Most Gulf bourses rise, Qatar falls
By Md Manzer Hussain
Jan 21 (Reuters) -Most stock markets in the Gulf rose on Sunday, partially recovering from a recent retreat triggered by U.S. economic data indicating that the interest-rate easing cycle may not come as early as some had hoped.
Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the dollar, and any monetary policy change in the United States is usually mimicked by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index .TASI closed 0.4% higher snapping three sessions of losses, with almost all sectors in positive territory.
Saudi Arabian media giant MBC Group 4072.SE jumped 10%, extending its rally to a fifth session.
Among the gainers, SAL Saudi Logistics Services Co 4263.SE climbed 8.3% and Lumi Rental 4262.SE gained 3.3%.
The Qatari index .QSI was down for fourth consecutive session and ended 0.3% lower, with Qatar Islamic Bank QISB.QA and Industries Qatar IQCD.QA each sliding 0.8% and Qatar Navigation QNNC.QA dropping 1.4%.
Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - fell slightly on Friday, with Brent LCOc1 settling at $78.56 a barrel.
- Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index .EGX30 rose for a second session and ended 3.2% higher, supported by a 12% jump in Talaat Mostafa Group Holding Co TMGH.CA and a 9% gain in Eastern CoEAST.CA.
- Separately, an International Monetary Fund team is currently in Cairo to discuss Egypt's $3 billion IMF loan and reform program, an IMF spokesperson said on Friday amid discussions about additional funding amid the war in Gaza.
SAUDI ARABIA | .TASI rose 0.4% to 12,004 |
QATAR | .QSI fell 0.3% to 10,291 |
EGYPT | .EGX30 up 3.2% to 27,719 |
BAHRAIN | .BAX ended flat at 1,992 |
OMAN | .MSX30 gained 0.4% to 4,605 |
KUWAIT | .BKP rose 0.4% to 7,950 |
Reporting by Md Manzer Hussain
Editing by Bernadette Baum
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Qatari court convicts former finance minister of laundering $5.6 bln
Qatari court convicts former finance minister of laundering $5.6 bln
A criminal court in Qatar has sentenced the Gulf Arab state’s former finance minister to 20 years in prison for laundering more than $5.6 billion, according to a document outlining the judgment seen by Reuters.
The court of first instance also ordered Ali Sherif al-Emadi to pay a fine in excess of 61 billion Qatari riyals ($16.7 billion), consisting of 40.9 billion riyals -- or twice the amount of money he laundered -- plus additional fines amounting to more than 21 billion riyals, the document shows.
Judges also found Sheikh Nawaf bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, a high-ranking member of Qatar’s ruling family and a brother of Qatar’s former prime minister, guilty of misuse of public funds, sentencing him to six years in prison and fined him 825 million riyals, the same document shows.
Emadi and Sheikh Nawaf, who faced trial along with 14 others, can appeal against the conviction, which the court issued on Jan. 10. It was not immediately clear whether the two had entered pleas in answer to the charges during the trial.
Emadi’s lawyers did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the conviction and Emadi has not commented publicly since he was arrested.
Sheikh Nawaf could not be reached for comment. Katara Hospitality, the company he previously chaired, declined to provide contact details. A charitable foundation run by his branch of the ruling family, which he previously chaired, said it no longer has links to him.
Emadi was convicted on charges of bribery, abuse of position and power and damage to public funds in addition to money laundering, according to the document, which did not detail the nature of the corruption.
A lawyer representing another of the defendants and a source with knowledge of the case confirmed the contents of the five-page court document seen by Reuters.
Emadi was arrested in May 2021 and fired as minister of finance.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said the investigation of Emadi was related to his capacity as finance minister, and not to other posts he held in the business community during his time as minister.
The arrest, prosecution and now conviction of high ranking Qataris like Emadi and Sheikh Nawaf has sent shockwaves through Qatar’s financial establishment.
The day before Emadi’s 2021 arrest, Qatar’s emir abolished provisions that gave ministers immunity from prosecution, according to the official gazette.
Sheikh Nawaf, a brother of Qatar’s former prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, was until 2021 chairman of Katara Hospitality, the hotel arm of QIA, which owns London’s Savoy and New York’s Plaza and developed the $600 million Katara Towers hotel project in Qatar.
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Qatar’s public prosecutor will launch a criminal trial of former finance minister Ali Sherif al-Emadi, the state news agency said Sunday.
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Emadi and an unidentified number of others are charged with bribery, abuse of position and power, damage to public funds and money laundering, Qatar News Agency said.
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