Corporate earnings lift Dubai stocks, Saudi extends gains
Dubai’s stocks rose in early trading on Monday boosted by positive corporate earnings, while Saudi Arabian shares extended their gains for a third consecutive day.
Dubai’s index rose 0.6 percent led by a 1.2 percent gain in Emaar Properties . The largest listed developer in Dubai reported a 20 percent rise in profit for the third quarter.
The profit came despite a prolonged slowdown in the emirate’s property sector, where the supply glut has sent residential prices sliding by at least a quarter since mid-2014.
Emirates NBD was up 0.5 percent, while Air Arabia advanced 1.4 percent as its third-quarter profit jumped 57 percent. The United Arab Emirates’ only listed airline attributed the surge to a 10 percent rise in passengers it carried from its four hubs in the UAE, Morocco and Egypt.
Saudi Arabia’s index was up 0.5 percent. Al Rajhi Bank increased 1.3 percent, while Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) edged up 0.6 percent in its fifth day of gains.
Saudi Aramco in its initial public offering (IPO) prospectus said it expected to close its acquisition of Sabic in the first half of next year.
Tabuk Agricultural Development soared 8.5 percent to be the second biggest gainer on the index.
The agricultural company’s loss in the third quarter widened, but the company said it would write off its accumulated losses by way of reducing the capital.
Gulf union cooperative insurance and united cooperative assurance both gained 3% after they turned to pre-zakat profit in the third quarter.
Abu Dhabi’s index was down 0.2 percent with Emirates Telecommunications shedding 0.6 percent following its chairman Eissa Ghanem Al Suwaidi’s resignation.
However, Dana Gas jumped 3.4 percent. The energy firm said on Sunday its collections from Egypt, UAE and Iraq’s Kurdistan increased 16.7 percent to $230 million in the nine-month period.
In Qatar, the index edged up 0.2 percent as Industries Qatar added 1.1 percent and Qatar International Islamic Bank was up 2.3 percent.
Source: Reuters
