Blue-chips weigh on Saudi
UAE hit by property woes
RIYADH/DUBAI, Feb 10, (RTRS): Most Gulf markets fell on Sunday, led by Saudi and Qatari stocks, as investors cut positions in blue-chip stocks after last week’s weakness in global stocks amid lingering uncertainty about the world economy. Saudi stocks began the day on a positive note after a rally in construction and cement stocks following a royal decree to reimburse rising expatriate fees that will help labour-intensive sectors.
But weakness in key banking and petrochemical shares quickly changed investor sentiment. The benchmark index ended 0.5 lower with Al Rajhi Bank down almost 1 percent and Saudi Basic Industries off by a similar margin. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said on Saturday oil exporters have not fully recovered from the oil price shock of 2014.
However, news of the royal decree on expat fees still lifted shares of cement and construction companies. Eastern Province Cement ended almost 1 percent higher, Arab Cement rose 1.9 percent and construction firm AlKhodari added 0.6 percent. The Saudi government is allocating 11.5 billion riyals ($3.1billion) under a scheme that reimburses some companies who struggled to pay steadily increasing fees for expatriate work permits in 2017 and 2018 and waives the hikes for some unable to pay. Qatar’s index, one of the world’s best performing markets last year, fell 0.6 percent with market heavyweight Industries Qatar dropping 0.7 percent and Vodafone Qatar down 1.8 percent. Abu Dhabi shares were hit by selling in Aldar Properties which ended 1.9 percent lower and First Abu Dhabi Bank which dropped 0.9 percent. Dubai was dragged down by DAMAC Properties, which dropped 3.2 percent. The firm has been hit hard by the property downturn in Dubai. EFG Hermes expects DAMAC to report a net profit of 214million dirhams ($58.28 million) in the fourth quarter, more than half what it reported in the same quarter in 2017.
Saudi Arabia
The index lost 0.5 pct to 8,573 points
Dubai
The index shed 0.5 pct to 2,530 points
Qatar
The index fell 0.6 pct to 10,441 points
Abu Dhabi
The index slid 0.6 pct to 5,082 points
Egypt
The index ended flat at 14,764 points
Kuwait
The index was flat at 5,442 points
Oman
The index was up 0.2 pct at 4,158 points
Bahrain
The index fell 0.6 pct to 1,410 points