Gulf stock markets await start of earnings season

The start of earnings season for the Gulf’s largest companies should begin to provide cues for investors in Middle Eastern stock markets on Tuesday, against a backdrop of positive sentiment in global markets.

Qatar National Bank reports its second-quarter earnings at around 1000 GMT, with analysts’ average expectation for the largest lender in the Middle East and Africa to report a 10 percent year-on-year increase in net profit.

The bank will be boosted by the incorporation of Turkey’s Finansbank into its accounts, after it completed its 2.7 billion euro acquisition in June.

The result, seen as a bellwether for other banks in the Gulf Arab state, comes a day after the Qatari index broke above the 10,000-point mark for the first time since mid-May.

It also kick-starts a busy few days of earnings, with companies in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Abu Dhabi all due to report before the end of the week.

Until then, investors in Gulf markets may have to look for external factors to influence their positioning.

Asian stocks rose to a 2-1/2-month peak on Tuesday, a day after Wall Street shares hit a record high thanks to a combination of upbeat U.S. data and expectations of more stimulus from global policymakers.

Oil futures rose on Tuesday as an interruption in Iraqi crude loadings at Basra threatened to tighten supplies, but prices held close to two-month lows hit in the previous session as investors continued to slash their bullish bets on oversupply fears.

Source: MarketWatch