Saudi index at 4-week low as oil drop weighs

Bluechips lift Egypt bourse; Dubai flatlines

DUBAI, April 16, (RTRS): Saudi Arabia’s bourse fell to a near fourweek low on Tuesday in post-dividend sell-off, while an extended drop in oil prices also weighed on sentiment. Other Arab regional markets were mixed.

Petrochemical stocks in Saudi Arabia led declines with Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the world’s largest chemical producer, losing 1.1 percent. Investors qualified for second-half 2012 dividends from SABIC on April 14. The sector’s index lost 1 percent. “The market is under pressure from the dividends coming at the same time as the results,” said Faisal Al-Othman, a Riyadh-based portfolio manager.

Investors have largely ignored estimate-beating earnings this week as global losses spurred them to book profits. Concerns of limited growth from petrochemical firms are also an overhang.

“I’m not very optimistic about petrochemicals and banks but smaller sectors, like retail, have encouraging growth in earnings,” he said.

Bank shares declines, with the sector’s index losing 0.6 percent, while the retail sector shed 0.2 percent.

Brent crude sank below $100 a barrel for the first time in nine months on Tuesday in a broad commodities rout after recent weak data from China and the United States spurred worries about oil demand.

Oil is seen as a proxy for global economic activity and therefore demand for Saudi petrochemical products.

The kingdom’s index slipped 0.7 percent, down for a fourth session to hit its lowest close since March 23.

In Egypt, bluechips helped lift the main benchmark by 0.4 percent, which rose for a seventh session in last nine since it slumped to a fourmonth low.

EFG Hermes jumped 5.1 to a fourweek high on talk a merger deal with Qatari investment company QInvest will go through. This eased investor concerns a deadline of May 3 could lapse without the merger receiving regulatory approvals.

The deal with QInvest will be finalised this week, Al Borsa newspaper reported, citing Egypt’s Prime Minister Hisham Qandil.

EFG Hermes said it had not received any notification from Egypt’s financial regulator of clearance for its merger with QInvest. A spokesman for Financial Supervisor Authority said he had no immediate comment.

Orascom Telecom (OT) jumped 2.2 percent to 4.64 pounds ($0.67) after Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Altimo on Tuesday confirmed its unit Baskindale has offered to buy 100 percent of OT at $0.70 per share.

In Kuwait, the market rallied 1.3 percent to fresh 29-month high, extending gains in a move driven by government buying, traders said. The market closed at 7,043, crossing the psychologically important 7,000 level.

The buying started mid-Monday after a sharp sell-off following a court ruling which found Musallam AlBarrak, an outspoken former member of parliament, guilty of insulting Kuwait’s ruler.

The buying from

a

sovereign wealth fund was a message of assurance for traders that the bourse would not be left alone, said financial analyst Nayef Al-Anzi.

“The rise was exaggerated and so was the message,” Al-Anzi said.

Elsewhere, UAE markets were mixed with Abu Dhabi’s measure slipping 0.4 percent, down for a second session since Sunday’s 41-month high. Dubai’s bourse ended flat.

Qatar’s bourse climbed 0.4 percent, up from Monday’s 15-week low as bargain hunters returned.

Saudi Arabia

The index declined 0.7 percent to 7,097 points.

Egypt

The index gained 0.4 percent to 5,295 points.

Kuwait

The index rose 1.3 percent to 7,044 points.

Dubai

The index ended points.

flat at 1,968

Abu Dhabi

The index slipped 0.4 percent to 3,094 points.

Qatar

The index gained 0.4 percent to 8,368 points.

Oman

The index retreated 0.7 percent to 6,240 points.

Bahrain

The index gained 0.4 percent to 1,092 points.