Gulf stocks firm on positive Q2 results; Egypt weakens

Gulf stock markets rose yesterday, supported by positive quarterly earnings from several major companies, while Egypt cooled for a second day as foreign traders exited positions.
The Qatar index increased 0.7% to 10,681 points.
Dubai’s index added 0.9% as Emaar Properties climbed 1.9% to Dh6.95 after reporting an 8% rise in second-quarter net profit to Dh1.27bn ($346mn).
That was ahead of the Dh1.06bn forecast by SICO Bahrain and Thomson Reuters data shows the median target price of 11 analysts covering the stock is Dh9.64.
Other property-related companies, which have not yet reported earnings, also fared well with builder Arabtec gaining 2.8%.
But Dubai Investments fell 1% after the company reported a 2.3% fall in second-quarter net profit.
Abu Dhabi’s index edged up 0.1%.
Dana Gas, which has not yet reported quarterly earnings, gained 3.6%.
But food producer Agthia dropped 2.7% after reporting an 18% jump in second-quarter net profit compared to a year ago.
Kuwaiti telecommunication operator Zain climbed 1.5% after it reported late a 14% rise in second-quarter profit to 45mn dinars ($149.3mn), well ahead of analysts’ expectations.
EFG Hermes and SICO Bahrain had forecast 36.2mn dinars and 37.4mn dinars respectively.
Kuwait’s main stock index rose 0.3%.
Saudi Arabia’s index gained 0.7% with 70% of traded stocks advancing as investors bought shares following recent dips.
Zain Saudi advanced 2.9% on news that its competitors Saudi Telecom Co (STC) and Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) had signed a deal to jointly explore options for their network of transmitter towers.
The bourse statements from the top two operators on Sunday did not mention Zain Saudi by name, but said they might involve “other licensed operators”. STC dropped 2.4% while Mobily gained 0.6%.
Egypt’s main index fell 0.7% as international funds sold shares, bourse data showed.
The index is still up 5.2% since Wednesday after Cairo said it was in talks with the International Monetary Fund on a $21bn loan programme.
Juhayna Food Industries declined 7.6% after the country’s largest dairy product and juice maker posted net income of 30mn Egyptian pounds ($3.4mn) in the second quarter, down from 65mn pounds a year ago.
“We expected increased costs to weigh on profits, with margins being sensitive to transactional and translational FX exposures; however, the impact was a bit greater than anticipated,” Naeem Brokerage said in a note.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, the Kuwait index added 0.3% to 5,470 points, the Oman index rose 0.3% to 5,861 points and the Bahrain index gained 0.5% to 1,161 points.