Gulf stock markets were mixed on Tuesday as oil prices swung from loss to gain and it remained unclear whether an agreed truce in Yemen would take effect and stay in place. Saudi-led air strikes pounded the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Tuesday, hours before a five-day truce was set to begin between the alliance of Gulf Arab nations and the Iran-allied Houthi militia that controls much of the country. Brent crude, which fell in early trade, pared losses and rose towards $66 a barrel as the Yemen conflict and a weaker US dollar lifted prices.
Oil's recovery helped the main Saudi stock index edge up 0.5 percent as petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries climbed 1.3 percent. Kingdom Holding jumped 2.1 percent, extending gains after a 6.2 percent surge in the previous session. A development company which is building the world's tallest tower in the city of Jeddah, and in which Kingdom has a stake, said on Sunday that residential apartments at the tower would likely go on sale later this year.
Newly listed Saudi Company for Tools and Hardware was the top gainer, surging its daily 10 percent limit. The retail tranche of the firm's initial public offer which ended this month was covered 620 percent. Including shares sold to institutional investors, the flotation raised around 504 million riyals ($134.4 million). Public offers in Saudi Arabia are usually heavily discounted. Middle East Paper Co, which listed earlier this month, soared as much as 71 percent before stabilising. Other Gulf markets close earlier in the day and had little if any time to react to oil's turnaround.
Dubai's stock index fell 0.4 percent and the most traded stock, developer Union Properties, dropped 3.3 percent. The stock fell its daily 10 percent limit on Monday after Union Properties said its first-quarter profit had fallen to 28.1 million dirhams ($7.7 million) from 179.8 million dirhams a year earlier. Builder Arabtec, whose board was due to review first-quarter earnings later on Tuesday, fell 1.5 percent. Abu Dhabi's benchmark inched up 0.1 percent thanks to Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), which rose 1.8 percent ahead of the semi-annual review of MSCI's emerging markets index. Brokerage Arqaam has said MSCI could effectively double ADCB's weighting in its benchmark when it announces the changes late on Tuesday.
Bourses in Qatar and Kuwait slipped 0.2 and 0.1 percent respectively, but Oman inched up 0.1 percent thanks to Al Madina Investment Co, which surged 8.6 percent after proposing a 5 percent cash dividend, its first payout since 2012. It did not specify in its statement whether the dividend was for 2014 of for the first quarter of this year. Egypt's market edged down 0.2 percent as most stocks declined after several smaller companies, which are not part of the index, reported declining first-quarter profits. Auto distributor GB Auto said on Tuesday its first-quarter profit had fallen to 47.148 million Egyptian pounds ($6.18 million) from 71.5 million pounds a year earlier. Its shares were flat in very thin trade.
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