Sliding bank stocks weigh on ADX

Banks led the Abu Dhabi stock market lower yesterday, while Saudi Arabia gained on the back of a rise in petrochemical shares.

Abu Dhabi’s index fell 1.6 per cent to 4,881 points, with much of the loss coming in the final 10 minutes of trade. First Abu Dhabi Bank, the largest lender in the UAE, declined 2.6 per cent and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank shed 2.2 per cent.

But Abu Dhabi National Hotels gained 6.9 per cent. It said on Tuesday that it had acquired five hotels in Dubai from Emaar Properties, which edged up 0.2 per cent.

The Saudi index rose 0.8 per cent to 7,633 points with top petrochemical producer Saudi Basic Industries rising 1.4 per cent and Banque Saudi Fransi adding 1.5 per cent.

Telecoms operator Zain Saudi Arabia climbed 3.2 per cent after agreeing to sell its tower infrastructure for 2.43 billion riyals.

Builder Abdullah Abdul Mohsin Al Khodari Sons was the biggest loser, shedding 4.6 per cent after shareholders voted down a capital increase of up to 566 million riyals.

The Dubai index declined, closing down 0.5 per cent to 2,685 points.

Developer Union Properties, which has been hit by Dubai’s real estate market slowdown, dropped 5.4 per cent to a 34-month low. Damac Properties lost 3.5 per cent.

Egypt’s blue-chip index added 0.7 per cent to 13,309 points with Telecom Egypt rising 5.8 per cent and Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemical Industries climbing 2.9 per cent.

Several Egyptian banks issued brief statements on proposed changes to taxation of income from their Treasury bond holdings, an issue that has hurt bank stocks.

Al Baraka Bank, Housing and Development Bank and Egyptian Gulf Bank all said the proposed changes would apply to new Treasury bills and bonds, with no retrospective effect.

Al Baraka and Housing and Development Bank added that its tax rate on earnings from Treasury bills and bonds would stay at 20 per cent, echoing a statement by Commercial International Bank on Tuesday. But Faisal Islamic Bank said it expects additional tax of about 180m Egyptian pounds in 2019.

All the banks closed lower yesterday except for Commercial International Bank, which edged up 0.3 per cent.