Weak oil and global bourses pull down Gulf; Egypt rises

Weak oil prices and global equity markets pulled down stocks in the Gulf yesterday, with some Saudi Arabian petrochemical shares and banks falling sharply, but Egypt edged up on the back of its currency’s firmness in the unofficial market.Qatar outperformed, falling only 0.3% because of a 1.3% rise by Qatar National Bank (QNB), the market’s biggest lender, to 154.50 riyals, its highest close since last November.But Vodafone Qatar, the most heavily traded stock, dropped 1.6% to 11.32 riyals after QNB Financial cut the stock to an ‘underperform’ rating, lowering its target price to 8.10 riyals from 9.30.The Saudi index sank 1.2% as petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries fell 1.5% and Saudi British Bank lost 2.7%.But major retailer Jarir Marketing, which had dropped 18% from its June peak because of Saudi Arabia’s economic slowdown, rebounded 2.5%.Dubai’s index dropped 1.3% as Emaar Properties lost 1.6%, almost erasing its gain of the previous day after posting strong second-quarter earnings.Strong earnings from Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties failed to boost that market, where the main index dropped 1.6%.Aldar fell 2.1% after reporting a 9.7% rise in second-quarter net profit to Dh657.4mn ($179mn), beating SICO Bahrain’s forecast of 384.1mn.Abu Dhabi banking shares were also very weak.Egypt’s index rose 0.6% as the Egyptian pound continued strengthening on the black market, suggesting short-term capital outflows may have eased or even halted on a net basis.Sentiment towards the pound has improved somewhat since last week’s news that Egypt is negotiating an International Monetary Fund loan, although a devaluation of the official exchange rate is still widely expected.Oriental Weavers Carpet Co jumped 8.0% after reporting a second-quarter net profit of 178mn Egyptian pounds ($20.05mn), up from 124mn pounds a year earlier. Elsewhere in the Guld, the Kuwait index edged down 0.1% to 5,463 points, the Oman index edged down 0.1% to 5,856 points and the Bahrain index edged up 0.04% to 1,162 points.