Reuters/Dubai
Most Gulf markets returned to negative territory yesterday amid wide-spread concerns over the US economy, while a set of fresh second-quarter earnings lifted Dubai’s bourse to a higher close.Oman’s shares fell for a fifth-straight session to a fresh two-year low. The benchmark lost 0.8%, closing at 5,427 points.Renaissance Services slumped 5.7% over investor concerns that its second-quarter earnings may be hit by a court case. Results are due on Tuesday, August 16, according to the management.Analysts expect a write-down from Renaissance’s postponed $500mn initial public offering of its Topaz unit earlier this year.The write-down is estimated to be around 2mn rials, according to an EFG-Hermes research note.Investors booked profit in Bank Muscat from Wednesday’s gains, when foreign buyers pushed the stock up. It fell 2.1%.“The market is reacting to international markets – it’s more of a continuation of current fears and avoidance of risk appetite internationally, which is affecting regional and other markets, like commodities,” said Marwan Shurrab, vice-president and chief trader at Gulfmena Investments.Abu Dhabi’s index was off 0.5% at 2,589 points. First Gulf Bank dropped 3.2% and Dana Gas fell 1.8% despite posting forecast-beating results. Its second-quarter net profit more than tripled.“These results demonstrate another strong quarter for Dana Gas, driven by both higher hydrocarbon prices, but more critically, by operational performance,” said a research note by EFG-Hermes. “Given that we expect the company to ramp up production, particularly in Kurdistan, as we go through the year and so anticipate progression in earnings growth.”In Kuwait, the benchmark slipped 0.9% to end at 5,851 points, down for six of last seven sessions.Most large caps ended lower in a regional downbeat mood. Telecoms operator Zain shed 1%, Gulf Bank fell 2% and Boubyan Bank lost 1.7%.Investment firm Kuwait Finance House bucked the trend and gained 2.2%. It said it expects to gain $40mn from a stake sale by one of its units, which will be added to fourth-quarter results.The unit is expected to get regulatory approval for the stake sale by the end of this month, the company said in a statement.Dubai’s developer Deyaar helped lift the emirate’s index by 0.2% to 1,464 points in late trade.Deyaar jumped 4.2% after saying it returned to profit in the second quarter, as it handed over homes from recently completed projects.District cooling firm Tabreed ended 2.1% higher having risen by as much as 4.7% in earlier trade. It posted a 9% rise in second-quarter net profit yesterday.Dubai’s gains were limited with bellwether Emaar Properties ending 1.1% lower.The Egyptian index declined 1.5% to 4,592 points, while Bahrain’s measure retreated 0.5% to 1,266 points.