Arabian Gulf shares little changed
Arabian Gulf stock markets were mostly sluggish yesterday as Qatar slowed after surging for two days, but Egypt’s bourse rose after authorities announced a date for presidential elections.
The Qatari stock index closed 0.3 per cent higher, well off early lows, as trading volume shrank by nearly a third. The index gained 2.6 per cent on Monday as investors positioned for annual dividend announcements in a few weeks.
Some of the best performers of the past two days pulled back, with Doha Bank losing 1.5 per cent.
But Aamal rose 2.4 per cent after announcing plans for an affiliate which it owns 50-50 with Egypt’s El Sewedy Electric to build three factories to produce copper wires, aluminium bars and drums for cables – the country’s first such factories.
In Saudi Arabia, the index fell 0.3 per cent as petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries dropped 0.5 per cent. But PetroRabigh gained a further 3.9 per cent in the wake of the opening of facilities in its Phase II petrochemical complex.
Dubai’s index rose 0.4 per cent as Air Arabia climbed 3.2 per cent to its highest level since early February 2017, in its heaviest trade since mid-October. Dubai Islamic Bank rose 1.7 per cent to its highest since August 2015.
But builder Drake & Scull dropped a further 3.5 per cent on further profit-taking after big gains since November.
After the close, Dubai Financial Market released a list of the first 19 stocks for which it will permit regulated short-selling. They include Air Arabia and Drake & Scull as well as blue chips such as Emaar Properties.
Shares in Abu Dhabi rose for their eight straight day, closing up 0.2 per cent, even as trading volumes remained low. Sharjah Islamic Bank was among the leading gainers, rising 8.6 per cent to a nine-month high of Dh1.52. Etisalat and ADCB also gained.
In Egypt, the index gained 1.4 per cent to a record high in its heaviest trade since November after the presidential elections were scheduled for March 26 to 28.
Incumbent Abdel Fattah El Sisi has yet to announce his candidacy but is widely expected to run and win, which could extend a period of relative political stability and provide more time for Egypt’s economic reforms to bear fruit.