Gold rose above $942 per ounce on Monday, strengthening as the dollar turned lower against six major currencies with slight caution toward riskier assets also proving supportive.

Gold was at $941.75 per ounce at 1256 GMT, up from $938.05 quoted late in New York on Friday. The precious metal earlier hit an intra-day high at $942.50 but is some way off a two week high of $948.20 hit last Friday.

A cautious approach to risk kept global stock market gains in check, while crude held under $70 per barrel following a bearish report on demand from the IEA, sapping gold’s appeal as a hedge against oil-induced inflation.

Analysts said the precious metal was holding onto gains but lacking upward momentum as currency markets would be indecisive until U.S. non-farm payroll data was released on Thursday.

“The dollar is going to be critical, and as long as it continues to weaken that tends to mean that gold

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MF Cuts Global Outlook; Brazil Hedge Fund Sells Banks, Homebuilders; February Home Prices Up 0.7%; Home Prices in Dubai Could Fall 70%; Apple Tops Forecasts; Feds Search Siemens’ Offices; Freddie Mac CFO Found Dead; E-Bay Beats Street

In its latest global outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed the growth forecast for every major country and urged more recovery actions. The IMF said the global economy will likely contract 1.3% this year and post a 1.9% gain next year, Reuters reported. Mercatto Estrategia FI, a Brazilian hedge fund that is beating 97% of its peers, is selling assets of the country’s largest homebuilders and banks, saying they are overvalued, Bloomberg reported. “Since we’ve lived through a liquidity crisis, it shook up the economy ...

Property prices in the UAE will likely drop by another 15% (adding to the 25% decrease in the fourth quarter of 2008), according to a report issued by Nomura Securities, an investment bank. “The property sector is maturing at breakneck speed and a shakeout will see more casualties, with this year marked by consolidation as companies struggle to stay afloat,” noted one analyst. That said, Nomura gave the region’s top property developer, Emaar Properties, a “buy” rating, with a target price of Dh2.87. “Emaar is the largest and most liquid company under our coverage and benefits from strong government support,” the report said, adding that Emaar is now entering the second stage of its maturity cycle, and expects to derive 12 -15 % of its net profits from recurring income streams. Furthermore, Emaar has low net debt gearing and no apparent ...

Credit-default swaps (CDS) associated with the Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group LLC, a firm owned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, rose 90 basis points yesterday, part of a record, growing trend in the cost of insuring against losses on debt sold by Dubai companies on speculation that Abu Dhabi, the richest of the U.A.E.’s seven states, will not come to the rescue of those emirate firms who struggle to refinance debt maturing this year.  Per Bloomberg, “lending and investment banking in the Persian Gulf have slowed as oil prices and stock markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi face the worst global economic slump since the 1930s.  The U.A.E. is also bracing for a real-estate slump after a five-year boom as banks cut back on loans and speculators desert the market.”

Emaar Properties PJSC, the UAE’s largest developer, is one of several prominent Dubai firms seeking to borrow in order to fund expansion in the wake of a global financial crisis, tightened lending and plummeting property values.  Bloomberg reports today that “plans for a $2 billion euro medium-term note program guaranteed by Emaar and a $2 billion trust certificate program by a Shariah-compliant unit were approved by the U.K. Listing Authority.”  A unit of HSBC Holdings Plc will be the paying agent for both programs.  Analysts report that Emaar has about 9.1 billion dirhams ($2.5 billion) of outstanding debt, and cash and cash equivalents of 4.03 billion dirhams at the end of September. Other Dubai firms seeking cash include Dubai Bank, which announced in September that it planned to sell as much as $5 billion of Islamic bonds.  And Commercial Bank of ...

The UAE banking system is undergoing a period of stress. Many of the banks have been expanding rapidly, adding branches across the UAE. There has been a lot of product innovation and these products require an overhaul of existing IT systems at the same time as their in conversion to Basle II. br /br /Other key metrics include:br /br /1) Loan growth to stay below 10%, br /2) Capital adequacy will have to grow to 11% in 2009 and 12% in 2010. br /3) Significant wage inflation

Abu Dhabi may provide Dubai with a credit facility to repay short-term debt.br /Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBSand Credit Suisse Group are helping advising on the restructure the $80 billion debt of Dubai and its state-owned companies.

It’s a buyer’s market in Dubai, where mansions on coastal developments, such as Palm Jebel Ali and the Palm Jumeirah, are selling at up to 40% below their peak.  But that’s lead to government concern, and now, intervention.

From Sunday’s Financial Times:
The Dubai government on Sunday formed a high level committee to tackle the impact of the widening financial crisis on the emirate’s once booming property market.

Amid signs of a deepening real estate correction, Mohammed Alabbar, chairman of the region’s biggest developer, Emaar Properties, said the committee was exploring various options to restore confidence in the market. Real estate agents report a slump in sales activity and price reductions in some developments of as much as 40 per cent.

Emaar Properties, the main driver behind the property market boom in Dubai since foreigners …

The closest thing to an ETF market in the Middle East at this point is Turkey, where there are five ETFs from two asset managers

Abu Dhabi, the major Middle East financial center, says it's preparing to create a platform to launch exchange-traded funds.

In detailing plans on Thursday, Rashed Al Baloushi, the deputy chief executive of the Abu Dhabi Exchange (ADX), credits increasing ETF demand by retail and institutional investors in the Middle East for the exchange's decision to build an ETF-specific platform.

Across the Middle East, ETFs and other traded securities are proving more popular and catching the attention of exchanges. The Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX), as well as exchanges in Oman and Saudi Arabia, have also shown interest in adding ETFs.

The latest ETF plans are also part of ambitious efforts by many Middle East markets to diversify away from oil wealth and become true, global financial centers.

Earlier this year, the Abu Dhabi Securities Market

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The United Arab Emirates dirham will appreciate 5 percent in 2009 as faster inflation in the Gulf state forces the central bank to ditch its 30-year peg to the dollar peg next year, according to CFC Seymour Ltd. The central bank of the U.A.E. will drop the dollar peg by June of next year, linking the dirham to a basket of currencies, including the dollar and the euro, Hong Kong-based currency analyst Carol Chan said in a phone interview yesterday. The dirham will rise to 3.49 to the dollar from its peg rate of 3.6725 today, said Chan. Inflation in the second-largest Arab economy accelerated to 11.1 percent in 2007 from 9.3 percent in 2006 as rent surged while the weaker dollar and higher global food prices made imports more expensive. With monetary policy tied to the U.S., the U.A.E. has put ...