Saudi drops on weak gains, FAB leads Abu Dhabi higher

Saudi Arabian shares fell for a fourth day on Wednesday as weak earnings continued to weigh on the index, while United Arab Emirates’ largest lender FAB boosted the Abu Dhabi index.

In Saudi Arabia the benchmark index was down 0.2 percent, with Saudi Basic Industries falling 0.5 percent, while Saudi Telecom Co was down 1.1 percent as the stock traded ex-dividend.

Methanol Chemicals Co fell 1 percent after it posted a net loss of 32.3 million riyals ($8.6 million), compared with a profit of 22.5 million a year earlier.

The firm blamed the loss on lower selling prices of most petrochemical products.

Advanced Petrochemical dropped 0.5 percent after reporting a more than 5 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, but revenue was down over 13 percent.

Abdulmohsen Al Hokair Group For Tourism And Development fell 4 percent after posting a third-quarter net loss of 15.5 million riyals, compared with a net profit of 1.9 million a year earlier.

In Abu Dhabi the index rose 1.1 percent, snapping a three-day losing streak with market heavyweight First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) advancing 2 percent and Abu Dhabi commercial Bank gaining 0.3 percent.

FAB on Oct. 24 reported a single-digit rise in third-quarter net profit, broadly in line with analysts’ forecasts.

Buoyed by real estates shares, Dubai’s main share index edged up 0.3 percent. Blue-chip developer Emaar Properties rebounded 1.7 percent and its Emaar Malls unit added 0.5 percent.

In contrast, DAMAC Properties slipped 1.7 percent following its announcement of no dividend, citing low profitability and a weak market.

The Qatari index edged up 0.1 percent, with lender Masraf Al Rayan adding 0.8 percent and Qatar Islamic Bank gaining 0.5 percent.

On Monday Masraf Al Rayan had reported marginal growth in nine-month net profit to 1.65 billion riyals, compared with 1.63 billion a year earlier.

Source: Reuters