Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company, BlackRock to Promote Developing Programs in Saudi Real Estate Finance Market

The agreement was signed by SRC CEO Majid Fahd Al-Abduljabbar and General Manager of BlackRock in the Middle and CEO of BlackRock Saudi Arabia Yazeed Al-Mubarak. BlackRock President Robert Capito attended the signing ceremony. (SPA)
The agreement was signed by SRC CEO Majid Fahd Al-Abduljabbar and General Manager of BlackRock in the Middle and CEO of BlackRock Saudi Arabia Yazeed Al-Mubarak. BlackRock President Robert Capito attended the signing ceremony. (SPA)
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Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company, BlackRock to Promote Developing Programs in Saudi Real Estate Finance Market

The agreement was signed by SRC CEO Majid Fahd Al-Abduljabbar and General Manager of BlackRock in the Middle and CEO of BlackRock Saudi Arabia Yazeed Al-Mubarak. BlackRock President Robert Capito attended the signing ceremony. (SPA)
The agreement was signed by SRC CEO Majid Fahd Al-Abduljabbar and General Manager of BlackRock in the Middle and CEO of BlackRock Saudi Arabia Yazeed Al-Mubarak. BlackRock President Robert Capito attended the signing ceremony. (SPA)

The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC), a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US BlackRock conglomerate in New York City, to develop programs in the real estate finance market in Saudi Arabia, and increase the share of businesses in the real estate sector capital markets.

The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the official visit of Saudi Minister of Municipalities and Housing, Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail who is also SRC Board of Directors chairman.

The minister and his accompanying delegation are in the US to discuss ways to boost Saudi-American partnerships in the urban development, construction, building, finance and real estate development sectors.

The agreement was signed by SRC CEO Majid Fahd Al-Abduljabbar and General Manager of BlackRock in the Middle and CEO of BlackRock Saudi Arabia Yazeed Al-Mubarak. BlackRock President Robert Capito attended the signing ceremony.

The MoU aims to accelerate the development of programs in the real estate refinancing market in Saudi Arabia and expand through local and international capital market channels.

It also seeks to diversify funding sources through fixed income markets, which is bound to increase the stability of the real estate finance market and contribute to achieving the goals of the housing and financial sector development programs, which serve as enablers of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.



Gold Climbs as Traders Position for Powell's Speech

A jeweller shows a gold bar at his shop in downtown Kuwait City on May 20, 2024. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)
A jeweller shows a gold bar at his shop in downtown Kuwait City on May 20, 2024. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)
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Gold Climbs as Traders Position for Powell's Speech

A jeweller shows a gold bar at his shop in downtown Kuwait City on May 20, 2024. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)
A jeweller shows a gold bar at his shop in downtown Kuwait City on May 20, 2024. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)

Gold prices gained on Friday as investors positioned themselves for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech that could shed more light on a potential US September interest rate cut.

Spot gold rose 0.7% to $2,500.83 per ounce by 1219 GMT, after hitting a record high of $2,531.60 on Tuesday. US gold futures gained 0.8% to $2,536.50.

Bullion fell more than 1% in the previous session, setting it on course for a 0.3% weekly decline, pressured by a rebound in the dollar and higher Treasury yields, Reuters reported.

"I think it's position-taking ahead of the expected rate cut, which I think is now looking like almost a certainty in September," said independent analyst Ross Norman.

Traders are expecting a 74% chance of a 25 basis points cut in September, while 26% expect a deeper 50 bps cut. Gold tends to thrive in a low interest rate environment as it yields no interest by itself.

"If Powell now hints at stronger interest rate cuts as a result, we could see new record highs for gold," Commerzbank said in a note.

"Given that the market has already priced in Fed rate cuts of around 100 basis points by the end of the year, the bar for a dovish surprise is likely to be set quite high."

Powell is expected to deliver speech at the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at 1400 GMT.

Meanwhile, India's silver imports are on course to nearly double this year due to rising demand from solar panel and electronics makers and as investors bet the metal will give better returns than gold, leading importers said on Friday.

Spot silver rose nearly 1.5% to $29.41 per ounce and was up 1.3% for the week.

Platinum gained 0.3% to $946.35 and palladium steadied at $933.71. Both metals were on track for a weekly decline.