Egypt's stock market rose again on Thursday on hopes a new cabinet could give the economy a boost, while a pull-back by Brent oil below $40 a barrel and a cut in telecoms roaming fees pushed down Gulf bourses. The Egyptian index gained 0.7 percent in active trade, adding to its 0.9 percent rise on Wednesday in response to a cabinet reshuffle that appeared to focus on improving economic performance.
Banking veteran Amr el-Garhy was appointed finance minister and Dalia Khorshid, formerly an executive of Orascom Construction, was made investment minister. It is not clear that the new cabinet will pursue major new initiatives, and some analysts see the reshuffle as a political manoeuvre designed to deflect criticism of the government's economic management.
But Orascom group stocks outperformed again on Thursday. Orascom Construction added 2.3 percent, and Orascom Telecom Media, the most heavily traded stock, rose 2.6 percent. Arabian Food Industries (Domty), which surged 9.2 percent upon listing on Tuesday, added a further 2.7 percent. But Commercial International Bank (CIB) dropped 1.3 percent after the central bank placed a time limit on the tenures of CEOs of commercial lenders.
The decision will force eight top executives in the sector to resign their positions, a senior banking official told Reuters, including CIB's Hisham Ezz al-Arab.
The Saudi index dropped 1.7 percent as the petrochemical sector pulled back 1.9 percent. Saudi Telecom tumbled 7.1 percent and fellow telecommunications firm Mobily dropped 2.0 percent after a Gulf Cooperation Council official said the six-nation bloc would cut roaming charges for making and receiving calls and sending text messages by an average 40 percent from April 1. A third operator, Zain Saudi, fell 0.6 percent.
The Dubai index fell 1.0 percent as Air Arabia, which plunged on Tuesday as it went ex-dividend and has been weak since then in response to the Brussels airport attacks, fell a further 1.6 percent. But Shuaa Capital, the most heavily traded stock, soared its 15 percent daily limit in its largest volume since at least 2002. It is rebounding from a record low hit earlier this year. Abu Dhabi's index lost 1.4 percent as Aldar Properties, which went ex-dividend on Thursday, slid 2.6 percent. Telecommunications firm Etisalat, which could also lose from the cut in regional roaming fees, dropped 1.1 percent.
Qatar fell 1.6 percent as Qatar Commercial Bank went ex-dividend, sinking 9.3 percent. Vodafone Qatar slipped 3.1 percent and telecommunications giant Ooredoo fell 0.9 percent. Gulf Warehousing fell back 3.3 percent after jumping its 10 percent limit for two straight days after the Qatar Central Securities Depository said it had raised the foreign ownership limit for the stock to 49 percent of capital.
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