Gulf markets edge up despite Turkey
Date
7/20/2016 5:59:07 AM
DUBAI, July 17, (RTRS): Major Middle Eastern stock markets edged up on Sunday although some shares with exposure to Turkey underperformed after the failed coup attempt there, and Saudi Arabia's largest listed bank dropped after reporting second-quarter earnings. The instability in Turkey is expected to have little financial impact on the Gulf because trade and investment ties are relatively minor. Nevertheless, fund managers said the event made some investors more cautious about buying. Qatar National Bank, which last month completed the acquisition of Turkey's Finansbank, slipped 0.5 percent, helping to pull the Qatari stock index down 0.1 percent. Dubai's index rose 0.5 percent as builder Arabtec , the most heavily traded stock, jumped 4.7 percent. On Thursday it said major shareholder Aabar Investments had agreed to give it a 400 million dirham ($109 million) debt facility to help it weather 'challenging' conditions in the industry. Dubai Islamic Bank fell 0.9 percent after it said shares from its 3.2 billion dirham rights issue last month were now listed in the market's electronic clearing system, facilitating trade. Emaar Properties, which has real estate, retail and hospitality projects in Turkey, fell in early trade but closed flat. Abu Dhabi's index also climbed 0.5 percent, buoyed by First Gulf Bank, which added 2.0 percent. But Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank sank 4.3 percent after it posted on Thursday a 1 percent rise in second-quarter net profit but warned it was restricting the amount of new credit it provided because of an increase in defaults across its business lines. The Saudi Arabian index edged up 0.3 percent as dairy firm Almarai climbed 1.8 percent to 57.25 dirhams in its heaviest trade since February, after it said second-quarter net profit rose 18.6 percent year-on-year to 628.8 million riyals ($167.7 million), beating analysts' average forecast of 530.3 million riyals. However, the company said it was cautious about the future because of stiff competition due to Saudi Arabia's economic slowdown, and the stock came well off its intra-day high of 59.25 dirhams, failing a test of major technical resistance at the March and April peaks of 58.50 riyals. National Commercial Bank fell 1.5 percent after its quarterly profit came in at 2.44 billion riyals, at the low end of estimates; analysts had on average expected 2.54 billion riyals. Bahrain underperformed the Gulf, dropping 0.7 percent, after a court dissolved the country's main Shi'ite Muslim opposition group al-Wefaq and liquidated its funds, advancing a crackdown on the Gulf kingdom's opposition. Egypt edged up 0.2 percent, buoyed by real estate developers, with Palm Hills Development gaining 3.2 percent.
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