Qatar- Gulf markets edge up after sell off; Egypt soft

(MENAFN- The Peninsula)DUBAI: Major Gulf stock markets edged up yesterday after Sunday’s sell-off but Saudi Arabia lagged because telecommunications operator Mobily tumbled following yet another negative earnings restatement.

The main Saudi index edged up 0.2 percent having dropped 3.2 percent in the previous session. Petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries was the main support rising 1.3 percent after falling 3.9 percent on Sunday in response to a fresh drop in oil prices.

Another heavyweight Saudi Arabian Mining (Ma’aden) jumped 3.5 percent and almost fully recovered from Sunday’s sharp decline. But Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) the kingdom’s most traded stock on Monday tumbled 7.4 percent to 31.30 riyals its lowest close since mid-2009.

Mobily last week restated results for 2013-14 and the first quarter of 2015 slashing total profits over the period by nearly 1.76bn riyals ($470m) in its latest attempt to resolve an accounting scandal. The firm whose shares had been suspended since June also posted a net loss of 900.9 million riyals for the second quarter of this year.

Mobily’s latest results were unaudited however and they did not appear to clear up uncertainty about the company among many investors. Some analysts covering the stock have suspended their performance and fair value estimates for Mobily pending the release of detailed and audited financial statements.

Other Gulf markets did slightly better although none of them fully recovered Sunday’s losses as oil prices continued to fall yesterday.

Dubai’s index edged up 0.4 percent and Emaar Properties the emirate’s biggest listed developer was the most traded stock rising 1.3 percent. The company posted a 16 percent increase in second-quarter profit to 1.18 dirhams ($321 million) on Sunday. SICO Bahrain had forecast Emaar’s quarterly profit would be 817 million dirhams and Naaem brokerage had expected Dh1.09bn.

Islamic mortgage lender Amlak Finance the second most traded stock slipped 0.5 percent to 2.14 dirhams after tumbling 8.5 percent in the previous session.

The stock is still more than 100 percent up since it resumed trading in June after a six-year suspension and a debt restructuring. Many analysts believe the stock may be overvalued and oil’s fresh drop may now be encouraging some speculators to cut their exposure. Abu Dhabi’s index edged up 0.6 percent and Aldar Properties that emirate’s top developer climbed 1.5 percent ahead of its earnings announcement on Tuesday. Qatar added 0.9 percent as Qatar Insurance surged 5.1 percent to a new all-time high of 106.10 riyals rising above its July peak of 102.50 riyals. The stock gained strong momentum in May when index compiler MSCI added it to its emerging markets benchmark. However the company last month posted a 9.1 percent decline in net profit for the first half of this year.

Egypt’s bourse fell 0.9 percent and according to bourse data most selling pressure came from Arab retail investors. But Emaar Misr the local unit of Dubai’s Emaar Properties which had slipped early in the session after announcing the departure of two senior executives turned around and edged up 0.3 percent to 3.43 pounds. Reuters

london: European shares rose yesterday shrugging off a slump for the Greek stock market when it reopened after a five-week shutdown as strong results from Heineken and banks supported the broader market. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.7 percent to 1583.52 points. The euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index gained 1 percent Germany’s DAX advanced 1.2 percent and France’s CAC 0.8 percent.

However Athens’ benchmark ATG equity index dropped by about 16 percent led down by shares in the country’s major banks.

Trading was suspended in Athens in late June as part of capital controls imposed to stem an outflow of euros that threatened Greece’s banks’ survival and risked pushing the indebted country out of the euro zone. Since then Athens and the European Union have agreed a bailout plan in exchange for stringent reforms and budget austerity. But implementation of the deal is some way off keeping alive the threat of political and economic instability.

Nevertheless the impact of Greece on the rest of Europe has been mitigated by economic stimulus measures from the European Central Bank whose record-low interest rates and liquidity have helped prop up European equities.

“A lot of overseas investors have stopped paying too much attention to Greece” ACIES Asset Management hedge fund manager and principal Andreas Clenow said. “The ECB’s measures are helping to limit the negative fallout from Greece.”

Heineken shares rose 5.6 percent after the drinks company’s second-quarter results beat expectations.

“The make-up of the results is consistent with our argument of why Heineken is on a sustainable trajectory of margin growth” RBC Capital Markets analyst James Edwardes Jones said in a note. “Both brand and product mix look to be contributing.”Reuters