Teleco Mobily dips 7% on Tadawul

Saudi Arabia’s index edged up 0.1 per cent to 7,420 points as telecommunications firm Mobily plunged 7.1 per cent after the company reported its fourth-quarter net loss more than doubled from a year earlier to 181.7 million Saudi riyals on declining customer numbers. The loss was in line with analysts’ estimates.

In Abu Dhabi the ADX index dropped 0.25 per cent to 4,589 points, with gainers including RAK Cement, up 3 per cent, while Taqa declined by 1.5 per cent.

In Dubai, the index fell 0.2 per cent to to 3,336 points as GFH Financial slipped 2.2 per cent after reporting annual net profit about halved and that its board cut the proposed annual cash dividend to 8.7 per cent from 10 per cent for 2016.

But builder Arabtec added 2.9 per cent after swinging to an annual net profit of Dh123.1m from a year-earlier loss of Dh3.41 billion, about in line with analysts’ expectations.

Courier firm Aramex rose 2.3 per cent to Dh4.50 but came well off the day’s high after failing a test of technical resistance at its January peak of Dh4.55. It had jumped 7.3 per cent on Tuesday after reporting a 25 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit to Dh165m, beating Sico Bahrain’s estimate of Dh115m.

Kuwait’s broad index surged 1.6 per cent as speculative stocks such as Real Estate Asset Management, which soared 20 per cent, and Human Soft, which added 9.8 per cent. The index of 15 blue chips posted a much smaller rise of only 0.3 per cent.

Egypt’s index rose 0.5 per cent to 14,806 points, while Bahrain exchange fell 0.8 per cent to 1,342 points.

Oman’s ndex edged up 0.04 per cent to 5,006 points.

Oil fell for a third day yesterday, dropping nearly 1 per cent on concerns about rising US production and another drop in financial markets after US consumer prices rose more than expected.

Brent crude futures fell 55 cents to $62.17 a barrel by 1.50pm GMT. The price has lost 11 per cent since hitting a high above $71 in January and has now wiped out all its 2018 gains.

US consumer prices excluding energy and food accelerated at their fastest pace in a year, triggering a bounce in the dollar as prospects for more US interest rate rises pushed up Treasury yields.