Qatar gains on QAMCO debut

Most Gulf markets fall

DUBAI, Dec 16, (RTRS): Gulf shares ended mostly lower on Sunday, hurt by a fall in global markets on Friday, but Qatar shares bucked the trend after a successful debut of Qatar Aluminium Manufacturing Co (QAMCO).

Qatar shares closed 0.4 percent higher as shares of QAMCO opened at 18.00 riyals, nearly 80 percent above their initial public offer price of 10.10 riyals, capping a successful run for Qatar’s biggest equity listing this year. The shares later eased to 13.01 riyals.

Industries Qatar also gained 0.9 percent.

In Dubai, shares of Emaar Properties dropped 3 percent and DAMAC Properties fell 2.9 percent, as Dubai’s property shares lost momentum after last week’s gains.

On Wednesday, Emaar Properties had seen its biggest one-day gain since June 2017 and had extended gains on Thursday, as investors were tempted after a steep fall in the stock price.

Dubai’s weak real estate market has been a big drag for property shares this year with Emaar Properties down more than a third yearto-date. The Dubai index fell 1.6 percent.

In Abu Dhabi, the index fell 0.6 percent, hurt by selling in First Abu Dhabi Bank, which dropped 1 percent and a 3.7 percent slide in Aldar Properties.

“We have seen some sell off over the weekend internationally and the impact of that was as usual reflected in our unstable and vulnerable markets,” said Marie Salem, director of capital markets in FFA Private Bank Dubai.

“It was normal to see such a reaction along with some profit taking following last weeks upside.”

The Saudi Arabian index was flat, but telecom operator Zain Saudi Arabia surged 5.8 percent after it announced that it was one of three companies that had agreed with the government to a change in the calculation of their annual royalty fees.

The companies said they agreed the royalty change, and on settling disputed fees to be paid for previous years up to 2017; in return, they will invest in upgrading network infrastructure over next three years.

Saudi Telecom also surged 1.3 percent, but Mobily eased 3 percent.

Saudi Arabia

The index was flat at 7,908 points

Dubai

The index fell 1.6 percent to 2,557 points

Abu Dhabi

The index was down 0.6 percent at 4,831 points

Qatar

The index was up 0.4 percent at 10,497 points

Egypt

The index was flat at 12,994 points

Kuwait

The index was up 0.4 at 5,407 points

Bahrain

The index was flat at 1,319 points

Oman

The index was down 0.7 percent at 4,417 points