Property shares boost gains in Egypt

Egypt’s blue-chip index extended gains on institutional buying, adding 1.3 per cent to 13,616 points to its highest peak in two weeks, buoyed by real estate shares.

Talaat Mostafa shot up 4.9 per cent and Eastern rose by 2.8 per cent.

Egyptian institutions extended net buying of 33 million Egyptian pounds in the previous session with 64 million Egyptian pounds yesterday, said Hussein Elalfy, head of research at Shuaa Securities Egypt.

Saudi Arabia’s index fell 0.3 per cent, dragged down by a near 10 per cent fall in Savola Group, the kingdom’s largest food products company, after it swung to a quarterly loss from a profit a year earlier.

Saudi-listed Al Tayyar Travel Group also dropped 2 per cent after posting a quarterly loss.

Market heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries gave up 0.8 per cent, with oil prices falling to their lowest since August.

Abu Dhabi’s index rebounded from initial losses and rose 0.3 per cent to 5,016 points thanks to gains among finance stocks.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank rose 1 per cent while Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank gained 1.1 per cent.

Dubai’s main index rose 0.5 per cent to 2,829 points, boosted by real estate stocks. Emaar Properties gained 1.6 per cent while Damac Properties was up 1.5 per cent.

Four out of six real estate stocks on Dubai’s blue-chip exchange closed trading in positive territory.

In Bahrain the index was 0.2 per cent higher at 1,316 points and the Omani index was up 0.6 per cent at 4,446 points. In Kuwait the index rose 0.6 per cent to 5,293 points.

US equity futures jumped, the dollar dropped and Treasuries climbed as investors seemed to cheer on an outlook for political gridlock in the wake of the American midterm elections.

Risky assets were in favour after results showed Democrats winning control of the House of Representatives and Republicans holding on to the Senate. The outcome dims chances for any more tax cuts or other major fiscal initiatives from the administration that might have pushed yields higher.

Overall, investors are betting that the election results won’t do much to disrupt an economy growing at a healthy 3 per cent clip.