Tadawul: NCB shares rise 5%

27/10/2016 05:13 AST

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All-Share Index was flat Thursday as gains by the Kingdom’s largest listed lender helped offset losses by petrochemical, cement and retail stocks. National Commercial Bank climbed almost five percent.

But Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), one of the world’s largest petrochemicals group lost 0.6 percent. Saudi Cement, one of the Kingdom’s largest cement firms by market value, declined 1.5 percent.

Saudi retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co. was down 2.5 percent. Gulf stock markets saw lackluster trade on Wednesday as low oil prices and weak earnings weighed on investor sentiment.

Crude prices declined for a third day, hovering near $50 a barrel for the first time in three weeks, amid doubts that OPEC members will agree to a cut output.

“Investor sentiment appears to be weak in general on low earnings visibility,” said Vijay Harpalani, fund manager at Dubai-based Al Mal Capital.

The potential for an agreement among OPEC producers, the upcoming US elections and a likely Fed rate hike in December have added to uncertainty in the near-term, Harpalani said. Abu Dhabi’s index was flat, with trade dominated by stocks due to report third quarter earnings after the market close.

Dubai’s index slipped almost one percent, dragged down by Emaar Properties which has the largest weighting on the benchmark. The Dubai developer lost 1.9 percent. Kuwait’s index ose 0.27 percent, lifted by the country’s biggest telecoms operator by subscribers, Zain. Zain jumped 2.44 percent to 420 fils.

The ex-monopoly, which operates in eight countries in the Middle East and Africa, has risen 27.2 percent since October 17.

A bourse filing from Zain on Tuesday said it had no material information to disclose behind a spike in trading activity on the company’s shares. But on Wednesday, deputy chairman Bader Al-Kharafi told Al-Arabiya TV that there was no information about a deal to sell the Kharafi family’s stake in Zain. He said trading activity reflected investor confidence in the company, and that a potential sale would depend on the price.

Qatar slipped 0.4 percent as weak earnings weighed on investor sentiment. Medicare Group dropped 4.6 percent, leading declines on the bourse. The company reported on Oct. 19 an 85 percent drop in earnings in the third quarter.

Petrochemicals, metals and fertilizer producer Industries Qatar lost 3.6 percent. The company on Sunday reported a 28.9 percent drop in quarterly profit.

Al-Meera Consumer Goods reported a 4.6 percent profit decline on Wednesday and saw shares fall 2.5 percent.

Arab News