MARKET REPORT Tadawul surges 4% on success of FII

Saudi Arabia’s stock market surged on Thursday, outperforming most major Arabian Gulf markets, boosted by strong corporate earnings and improved market sentiment after a three-day investment conference in Riyadh.

The index closed 4.3 per cent higher in heavy volume at 7,836 points, the highest in two weeks.

The Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh drew to a close on Thursday with the government announcing the signing of billions of dollars worth of deals or preliminary agreements.

“The crown prince’s message at FII was more on the positive side and there is improved sentiment in the market on the back of that, and there has been a lot more retail money coming in, which shows the public is supportive,” said Nadi Barghouti, head of asset management at Emirates Investment Bank.

Next week will be crucial for the market to see if the money is coming in from strategic buyers or shorter-term bargain hunters, Mr Barghouti added.

Al Rajhi Bank jumped 6.6 per cent after reporting a 13.6 per cent rise in third-quarter profit, largely in line with analyst estimates.

Top petrochemical group Saudi Basic Industries also jumped 6.2 per cent, while Arab National Bank rose 7.2 per cent after its third-quarter profit rose 14.7 per cent due to lower operating expenses.

Saudi British Bank was up 4.6 per cent after posting a third-quarter profit of 1.25 billion riyals (Dh1.2bn), against 1.08bn a year ago.

The Abu Dhabi index lost 0.9 per cent to 4,882 points, dragged down by banking stocks. First Abu Dhabi Bank fell 2.4 per cent and Union Insurance dropped 9.8 per cent.

The Dubai index edged down 0.1 per cent, with lender Emirates NBD falling 1.5 per cent.

In Kuwait, the index rose 0.4 per cent to 5,228 points. The index in Bahrain dropped 0.1 per cent to 1,316 points. Oman’s index dropped 0.2 per cent to 4,453 points.

In Egypt the index fell 1.7 per cent to 4,453 points.

Egypt’s blue-chip index fell 1.7 per cent, mirroring weakness in emerging markets which hit their lowest in 19 months. MSCI’s index of emerging market stocks was down 0.8 per cent after falling as much as 1.7 per cent earlier.