Regional stocks traded a mixed day

Arabian Gulf stock markets were mixed yesterday with Saudi Arabia’s index closing 0.1 per cent higher at 7,540 points, coming off the day’s high after approaching major technical resistance on last July’s peak of 7,586 points.

Top petrochemical producer Saudi Basic Industries gained 0.8 per cent, while Saudi Automotive Services rose 1.0 per cent after estimating its annual net profit expanded 15 per cent, on an 11 per cent gain in sales.

Masraf Al Rayan, Qatar’s second-largest bank by market value, pulled the Qatari stock index 0.2 per cent lower.

Shares in Masraf Al Rayan sank 2.7 per cent after the bank reported a 9.6 per cent drop in fourth-quarter net profit to 466 million Qatari riyals, below an average 562.5m riyal forecast by three analysts polled by Reuters. Qatar National Bank also missed forecasts with a 5.2 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit to 2.85 billion riyals. But the Gulf’s largest lender raised its cash dividend for 2017 to 6 riyals per share and its stock was up 0.7 per cent.

Among the gainers, Medicare Group surged 7 per cent in its heaviest trade since March; it has doubled from its November low.

In Dubai, the index rose 0.5 per cent as the most heavily traded stock, Union Properties, gained 0.9 per cent. Emaar Malls was the top performer, adding 2.2 per cent, although trading volume fell from Tuesday’s level, which was the highest since early 2016.

Meanwhile, a stronger dollar and weaker commodity prices knocked emerging stocks off their near-decade highs and weighed on currencies, with Turkey’s lira on track for its worst week since November on flaring geopolitical tensions.

MSCI’s emerging market benchmark edged 0.1 per cent lower after the benchmark had hit the highest level since May 2008 on Tuesday, though individual bourses performed very mixed.

South Korea and some China mainland bourses eased 0.2 per cent, while stocks in oil exporter Russia slipped some 0.6 per cent.

The falls came after the dollar index strengthened 0.25 per cent, rebounding from a three-year low hit, while Brent crude futures extended the previous day’s falls, pulling further away from the US$70 per barrel mark.