Sabic beats forecasts to lift bourse

20/10/2016 05:19 AST

Saudi shares rose on Wednesday for the first time this week as Sabic’s third-quarter results came in ahead of most predictions.

The petrochemicals major’s third-quarter profit fell about 7 per cent compared with last year, but came in ahead of most analysts’ estimates, reassuring investors.

The Tadawul index closed up 1.1 per cent at 5,522.57, its first one-day gain since last Thursday. Sabic shares, one of the best-performing stocks on the index so far this year, ended 2.1 per cent higher at 84.09 Saudi riyals, with NCB and Samba the other big-name gainers of the day.

Shares in Abu Dhabi rose for a second consecutive day, with the emirate’s headline index recovering to levels reached ahead of Monday’s sharp sell-off.

FGB and Etisalat, which together account for more than 50 per cent of the Abu Dhabi index’s weighting, rose by 1.8 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively, with Aldar Properties and NBAD also among the gainers.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index finished the day virtually unchanged, ending up 0.05 per cent at 3,319.48. Gains by DXB Entertainments and Emaar Malls were balanced out by declines in Dubai Investments and du.

Emirates NBD shares fell 1.2 per cent to Dh8, as the stock resumed trading following the bank’s announcement of flat third-quarter profit on Monday.

Shares in Qatar were dragged lower by Commercial Bank of Qatar, which ended the day down about 5 per cent. Qatar’s third-largest bank by market capitalisation on Wednesday reported its first quarterly loss in more than 10 years because of rising impairment costs.

The Qatar Exchange ended the day down 0.3 per cent.

The National