SAUDI GROK Daily News – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]
Saudi Arabia and Syria Try to Douse Lebanon’s Next Fire [Jul 31]
“very summer, Lebanon welcomes Arabs from all over the Middle East to its seashore and mountain resorts as they seek relief from the overbearing heat in their desert home countries. But this year, the local economy got a boost from the arrival of two unlikely Arab visitors: Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who arrived together on Friday. Until recently, the two heads of state were the leading figures in a regional rivalry played out in Lebanon.. ..The purpose of Assad and Abdullah’s day trip was to meet with Lebanese leaders and discuss the implications of the potentially explosive upcoming report on the investigation into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. But while that report, due in September, is expected to dramatically raise the political temperature in Lebanon, the joint mission of the two regional heavyweights, whose allies have previously turned Beirut into a battlefield, was taken by many Lebanese as a sign that there will be no new Lebanese civil war..” [Complete Report]
Saudi Shares Climb [Jul 31]
“Saudi Arabian shares rose, with the Tadawul All Share Index recording the third-biggest monthly gain in a year, following flat trading in U.S. and European shares. The 143-company gauge rose 0.3 percent to 6283.73, the highest since June 28, at the 3:30 p.m. close in Riyadh, after falling as much as 0.2 percent. Al Rajhi Bank, the biggest publicly traded lender in Saudi Arabia, was the leading mover, while Samba Financial services, the kingdom’s second biggest lender by market value, drove lagging movers. Tadawul gained 3.1 percent in July, the highest monthly gain since March. “Today’s small uptick is nothing to call home about,” said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi in Riyadh. “Oil has been hovering in the high $70s and global equities have been rather flat as the summer lull is taking hold in Europe and the U.S.” ..” [Complete Report]
