Banking shares that were beaten down earlier this month by fears of slowing economic growth in the region boosted several Gulf stock markets on Thursday, despite weakness in Asian bourses and oil prices. The Saudi bank sector has been strong since last week's big international bond sale by the government partly eased fears of a liquidity drought in the economy.
On Thursday, the sector index climbed 1.5 percent in its seventh straight day of gains. It has risen 13.3 percent in that period. This helped the overall Saudi stock market index gain 0.9 percent on Thursday, although trading volume was modest and fell from Wednesday, a negative technical sign. The petrochemical sector lagged slightly but PetroRabigh added 3.8 percent after saying it remained committed to executing a rights issue that it had initially announced last year.
Abu Dhabi's First Gulf Bank rose 3.2 percent after reporting a rise in third-quarter net profit to 1.86 billion dirhams ($507 million) from 1.42 billion dirhams, partly because of gains from real estate sales. Analysts' average forecast was for 1.37 billion dirhams. National Bank of Abu Dhabi climbed 1.2 percent after reporting a flat third-quarter profit in line with analysts' estimates, and Abu Dhabi's main stock market index rose 0.6 percent.
However, telecommunications operator Etisalat fell 1.3 percent after missing analysts' forecasts with a net profit after a royalty payment of 1.9 billion dirhams. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected 2.24 billion dirhams. Dubai's index gained 0.4 percent in modest trading volume as Dubai Islamic Bank rose 0.6 percent. Emaar Properties climbed 1.9 percent and Shuaa Capital jumped 3.7 percent.
Qatar's index edged up 0.1 percent as petrochemical and metals producer Industries Qatar surged 3.8 percent. But investment firm Aamal, the most heavily traded stock, fell 1.5 percent after reporting a 3.6 percent drop in third-quarter profit. Gulf International Services sank 4.2 percent after reporting an 87-percent fall in third-quarter net profit to 28.3 million riyals ($7.8 million). QNB Financial Services had forecast 78.2 million riyals.
Egypt's index rose 1.0 percent, buoyed by a surge of property developers. Emaar Misr jumped 6.5 percent and Palm Hills Development rose 3.1 percent. Speculation that another devaluation of the Egyptian pound may be imminent has increased in recent days, and real estate firms could benefit if a devaluation ignites a surge of foreign funds into the country and property is bought by Egyptians as a hedge against inflation. Ezz Steel, which has been languishing near year-lows, surged 4.8 percent. A devaluation of the Egyptian pound could help to curb Chinese steel imports into the country.
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