A general view taken on July 19, 2009 shows the headquarters of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) in Riyadh. Sabic, the Gulf’s largest stock by market value, fell 1.2% yesterday as Saudi Arabia’s index slid 1.2% to a three-year low of 6,686 points.
Reuters
Dubai
Saudi Arabia’s bourse slid in the last hour of trade yesterday to end lower for a third session as crude prices extended a slump, while markets in Egypt, Qatar and the UAE made slight rebounds following sustained declines.
Brent prices tumbled to $36.78 by 1233 GMT, dropping further towards 11-year lows.
Saudi Arabia’s index fell 1.2% to a three-year low of 6,686 points. Selling intensified as Brent prices fell below $37, Reuters data showed.
Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic), the Gulf’s largest stock by market value, also fell 1.2%.
Almarai bucked the trend, jumping 5.6% to 80 riyals after it announced a dividend distribution of 1.15 riyals per share for 2015. This is 15% higher than 2014’s dividend and will be the dairy company’s biggest payout since 2011.
Almarai also said it would raise its capital by 33% by issuing 1 bonus share for every 3 held. The capital boost is aimed at supporting the food producer’s five-year 21bn riyal ($5.60bn) spending programme.
Dubai’s bourse climbed 1.2% as 19 of the 21 traded stocks ended higher. The index had hit a two-year low a day earlier.
Abu Dhabi’s index rose 0.6%, recovering some of Sunday’s losses as Etisalat, the UAE’s largest listed company, added 1%.
Fellow bluechips First Gulf Bank and Aldar Properties were among the other gainers, each jumping 1.8%.
In Kuwait, mobile operator Viva tumbled 9.1% to 1 dinar after parent firm Saudi Telecom Co (STC) said it would offer 1 dinar per share to buy up Viva’s remaining stock.
Viva shares had gained 20% since STC’s initial takeover announcement in November, ending Sunday at a record closing high of 1.1 dinars.
STC has received approval from Kuwait’s market regulator for the takeover offer, with the buyout period open from December 27 to January 31, the statement said.
At 1-dinar-per-share, STC is valuing Viva at a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 11.4, based on the company’s third-quarter results, the bid document states.
Egypt’s benchmark rose 0.2% to 6,408 points, but remains within 110 points of November’s 2015 low.
In a surprise move, Egypt’s central bank on Sunday injected more foreign currency liquidity into the banking system, helping restore confidence among some foreign stock traders who were net buyers on Cairo’s bourse. Local and Arab investors were net sellers, bourse data showed.
“We believe this foreign currency injection - our so called Operation Confidence - has a very short life span,” said a note by Cairo-based Pharos Holding.
“The buzz around renewed negotiations with Gulf countries and the IMF over sizeable financial assistance reinforces just how short-lived this move will be.”
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Kuwait’s index dipped 0.6% to 5,602 points; Bahrain’s index fell 0.5% to 1,207 points, while Oman’s index slid 0.2% to 5,404 points.
