ADX boosted by Adnoc Distribution

Most Middle Eastern stock markets fell yesterday, with Saudi Arabia pulling further away from a major resistance level, although a surge by fuel distributor Adnoc Distribution buoyed Abu Dhabi.

The Saudi Tadawul index slipped 0.3 per cent to 7,513 points, retreating from the July peak of 7,586 points.

The dairy company Almarai dropped 1.2 per cent after reporting fourth-quarter net profit of 513 million Saudi riyals, down from 536m riyals a year ago and below forecasts of 549m riyals by Sico Bahrain and 531m riyals by NCB Capital.

It blamed a 2.6 per cent decline in revenue on the loss of sales to Arabian Gulf and export countries.

Savola, Saudi Arabia’s largest food producer and a major shareholder in Almarai, slid 2.2 per cent. Saudia Dairy and Foodstuff Co fell 1.6 per cent after reporting a 14 per cent decline in quarterly profit, as sales shrank slightly.

In Dubai, the DFM index fell 0.5 per cent to 3,512 points as most property developers weakened, with Damac down 1.7 per cent.

Union Properties, however, edged up 0.4 per cent after saying it had sold its entire stake in district cooling firm Emicool to Dubai Investments, already the owner of the other 50 per cent, for Dh500m. Dubai Investments edged down 0.4 per cent.

Abu Dhabi’s index rose 0.2 per cent to 4,636 points on the back of a 3 per cent gain by Adnoc Distribution to Dh2.73. On Thursday, Goldman Sachs initiated the stock with a “buy” rating and a 12-month price target of Dh3.31.

Egypt’s index fell 0.5 per cent to 15,340 points, but Orascom Development surged 3 per cent after the board proposed a share split that would change the par value of the stock to 1 Egyptian pound from 5 pounds.

Kuwait’s index dropped 0.3 per cent to 6,620 points. The market traded shares with a total value of 15.5 million Kuwait dinars (16 per cent above the 90-day average) over 143 million shares.

Zain traded the most, with shares worth 2.2m dinars. The stock price weakened 1.8 per cent to 0.488 dinars.

In Oman, the index fell 0.9 per cent to 4,979 points, The market traded a total value of 1.3m Omani riyals (35 per cent below the 90-day average), over 6.7 million shares.