Petchem stocks pull Tadawul index down

(MENAFN- Arab News) DUBAI: Gulf stock markets were mixed on Sunday but bourses in the United Arab Emirates attracted investors who placed bets ahead of the last wave of first-quarter earnings reports.
However Brent crude oil posted its first weekly loss in a month on Friday as the market fretted again about global oversupply; Brent which hit a 2015 high just below $70 per barrel last week closed at $65.39 on Friday.
The main Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index slipped 0.1 percent to 9711 points as petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp. whose profits are sensitive to oil prices fell 1.7 percent and other stocks in the sector were also weak.
But property developer Jabal Omar edged up 0.2 percent after posting a third profitable quarter in a row after years of losses. Real estate firms Emaar Economic City and Dar Al-Arkan rose 4.0 and 1.1 percent respectively.
Dubai's index which has little exposure to the energy and petrochemical sectors compared with other regional markets rose 1.1 percent to 4147 points as most stocks made gains.
District cooling firm Tabreed surged 9.3 percent; the stock had soared its daily 15 percent limit on Thursday after announcing plans to buy back some of its convertible bonds.
Low-cost carrier Air Arabia and builder Arabtec rose 1.3 and 3.8 percent. Arabtec is expected to publish its first-quarter earnings this week and Air Arabia posted them after the market closed. However the firm which made 78.1 million dirhams ($21.3 million) in the quarter missed the estimates of analysts surveyed by Reuters who had on average expected 95.0 million dirhams.
Abu Dhabi developer Aldar Properties which is also due to announce earnings this week jumped 3.0 percent and was one of the main supports for that emirate's index.
Aldar also said on Sunday it had secured commitments for almost 500 million dirhams in land plots at its new Nareel Island project.
Egypt's market edged down 0.6 percent as most stocks declined. Telecom Egypt which according to some analysts risks being excluded from MSCI's emerging markets index this week was the biggest loser dropping 3.7 percent.
But Commercial International Bank the country's biggest listed lender edged up 0.2 percent ahead of its first-quarter results which are expected on Wednesday.
"We expect the company to report net income of 982 million (Egyptian) pounds for the first quarter a 22 percent increase year-on-year and 4.7 percent decrease quarter-on-quarter with year-on-year growth driven by top-line growth and relatively lower operating costs" Harshjit Oza banking analyst at Cairo-based Naeem brokerage said in a note on Sunday.