Tadawul index stays almost flat

DUBAI: The Tadawul All Share Index ( TASI) on Wednesday closed flat. Large-cap banks outperformed with Banque Saudi Fransi adding 2.6 percent.

Oil shipper National Shipping Co. (Bahri) rose 0.3 percent on news it had signed a joint venture agreement with Saudi Aramco, London- listed Lamprell and South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries to build and operate a shipyard on the Kingdom’s east coast.

Petrochemical shares lagged as Brent oil futures continued a sharp decline, falling below $51 a barrel to a three-week low. Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) lost 1.3 percent.

On Wednesday, a sharp drop in property developer Ezdan Holding rippled across Qatar’s stock market while profit-taking in blue chips dragged Abu Dhabi lower, although Dana Gas jumped on hopes for payments from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Shares in Ezdan, Qatar’s largest listed developer, tumbled by a further 9.3 percent. They have plunged since the end of last week when shareholders gave preliminary approval for the company to delist.

The exchange said it had removed Ezdan from the QSE index after Monday’s close because of the decision, but the steep drop soured sentiment toward other stocks.

“Investors are fed up as a result of the inaction of the regulatory authorities, the fact they did not reject the delisting of such a major company,” said one regional investor. Qatar’s stock index lost 1.6 percent.

Abu Dhabi’s Dana Gas jumped 5.1 percent and was the most heavily traded share on the bourse.

An article on the website of Pearl Petroleum said Pearl, Dana and Crescent Petroleum had applied to a US District Court for recognition and enforcement of awards made at the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) against the KRG.

The article said that documents