Tadawul: Consumer focused stocks drop

(MENAFN- Arab News)JEDDAH: Most Gulf stock markets traded sideways in thin volumes on Tuesday but real estate-related shares continued to buoy Qatar after the central bank governor ruled out tightening monetary policy.
In most of the region investors are worried about low oil prices and tightening liquidity in banking systems due to the reduction in state oil revenues.
Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index closed flat.
Alinma Bank the most heavily traded stock rose 1.5 percent but several major plays on Saudi consumer demand fell showing concern about the risk of an economic slowdown next year if oil prices stay low and the government curbs spending.
Retailer Saudi Marketing Co. dropped 2.1 percent and travel agent Al-Tayyar Travel sank 4.6 percent.
Dubai's stock index edged up 0.02 percent to 3660 points pulling back after it neared technical resistance around 3700 points which capped the market repeatedly in September.
Blue chip Emaar Properties rose 1.3 percent but second-tier real estate stocks were sluggish. Apartment prices in Dubai have fallen 11 percent in the past 12 months and will decline further because of tighter regulations rising inflation and a strong UAE currency industry consultants JLL said in a report.
The most heavily traded stock in Dubai GFH Financial added 0.4 percent after the company reported further progress in settling its debts; it said it had repaid a further $37.5 million leaving it with $137 million of outstanding debt.
Abu Dhabi's stock index slipped 0.2 percent. The standout was Qatar which added 1.0 percent; it has outperformed the region since the central bank governor said at the weekend that he did not foresee liquidity tightening and would not imitate any interest rate hike in the US.
Money market rates have also been rising in Qatar though less dramatically than in the UAE and it is not clear whether the central bank will take any concrete action to keep them down especially given the Qatari riyal's peg to the US dollar.
Nevertheless the governor's statement has improved investor sentiment especially toward interest rate-sensitive real estate stocks. Property firm Ezdan Holding the most heavily traded stock climbed 2.6 percent on Tuesday.