Cairo bourse closes at 13-mth high; Gulf stocks firm on oil

Egypt’s stock market closed at a 13-month high yesterday amid optimism over Cairo’s talks with the International Monetary Fund, while bourses in the Gulf firmed as oil prices came off multi-month lows and global equities firmed.The main Egyptian index jumped 1.9% in its highest trading volume for seven weeks as institutional funds bought shares, bourse data showed.The index rose 2.8% over the week on hopes that an IMF team visiting Cairo would agree on a three-year, $12bn loan that would stimulate economic growth and ease a hard currency shortage.Oriental Weavers jumped 10.0% yesterday after it announced a five-year plan to boost production capacity across all product lines, predicting sales would grow by 20% in the second half of the current year compared to the first half.On Wednesday it reported a 43.5% increase in second-quarter net profit.But Global Telecom fell 0.5% to 4.15 Egyptian pounds after it reported a 3.3% year-on-year drop in quarterly net profit to $26.5mn, while revenues also shrank.Naeem brokerage attributed the profit fall to weakness in the Algerian unit, $21mn of transformation costs and $14mn of non-tax provisions.It recommended a “hold” on the stock with a target price of 4.00 pounds.Juhayna Food Industries sank 3.3% to 5.50 pounds after Renaissance Capital cut the stock to a “hold” from a “buy”, lowering its target price to 6 pounds from 9 pounds.Dubai’s main index rebounded 1.2% as large and mid-cap stocks outperformed, with Emaar Properties climbing 1.4%. In Abu Dhabi the index closed up 0.4% as some blue-chip lenders advanced; First Gulf Bank added 1.7%.Telecommunications firm Etisalat dropped 0.5% as it went ex-dividend.Qatar’s main index climbed 1.3% to 10,681 points, its highest close since November 2015.Petrochemical and metals producer Industries Qatar jumped 3.3% after its second-quarter net profit beat analysts’ estimates; profit fell 13.6% to 1.27bn riyals ($350mn) but exceeded an average forecast of 799.9mn riyals.Other blue chips also advanced with the largest listed lender, Qatar National Bank, adding 1.5%.In Saudi Arabia, the index edged up 0.1% as petrochemical shares rebounded; Saudi Basic Industries added 0.6%. Sabic fell 1.5% over the week. Retailer Jarir Marketing, which fell as much as 1.2% during the day as it went ex-dividend, recovered to close up 1.0%.Elsewhere in the Gulf, the Kuwait index edged down 0.2% to 5,459 points, the Oman index added 0.4% to 5,870 points and the Bahrain index edged up 0.1% to 1,157 points.