Most Middle Eastern stock markets fell on Monday as a rebound by global equities turned out to be short-lived, but Saudi Arabia's bourse rose after a string of strong quarterly earnings. Stock indexes in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar rose in early trade but quickly gave up all their gains after European bourses once again weakened.
Dubai's index, which was up as much as 2.5 percent early in the session, closed 1.0 percent down, having changed direction shortly after the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index opened and moved into negative territory. Bourses in Abu Dhabi and Qatar, both of which had opened on a positive note, also retreated and fell 1.5 and 1.4 percent respectively.
Major petrochemical producer Industries Qatar, up 0.2 percent, was one of the few gainers in Doha after reporting a 5 percent rise in third-quarter net profit on Monday. The conglomerate earned 1.86 billion riyals ($511 million) in the quarter, while analysts polled by Reuters had on average expected 1.66 billion riyals. Saudi Arabia's main index rose 1.1 percent in a volatile session, having briefly moved into negative territory. Bank Albilad jumped 3.6 percent after reporting a 20 percent profit jump in the third quarter, ahead of estimates.
Alinma Bank surged 6.8 percent and was the main support for the benchmark. The lender has yet to publish its quarterly results, but most other Saudi banks have either met or beaten analysts' forecasts. Shares in Yanbu National Petrochemical Co (Yansab) edged up 0.4 percent after it reported a 20.1 percent drop in third-quarter net profit, which was in line with analysts' estimates.
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co rose 1.3 percent. The firm's third-quarter profit rose 55 percent. Petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries, which is affiliated with both Yansab and Kayan, gained 1.7 percent. Egypt's index edged up 0.1 percent after Moody's changed its outlook on the country's sovereign rating to stable from negative, citing a more stable political and security situation and signs of economic recovery. Shares in property developer SODIC rose 2.0 percent after its managing director Ahmed Badrawi told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit that the company planned to invest 2.4 billion pounds ($336 million) in 2015 and was hunting for new projects.
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