Saudi index rises before oil meeting; most ME markets little changed

Saudi Arabia's stock market rose on Wednesday before an oil producers' meeting that could help support crude prices, while Egypt's bourse was aided by a firm global tone for equities. Most Gulf markets were little changed. Iran's oil minister was meeting his counterparts from Iraq, Qatar and Venezuela in Tehran on Wednesday afternoon to discuss a proposal for major producers to freeze output at January levels.
Even if an agreement can be reached, many investors doubt it will be respected in the long term, or that it will boost oil prices much. But the prospect of some action to improve the oil market helped the Saudi stock index rise 1.1 percent in its third straight day of gains. Petrochemical bluechip Saudi Basic Industries gained 1.5 percent.
Insurer Alinma Tokio rose 3.8 percent in unusually heavy trade after it said it had narrowed its net loss to 21.9 million riyals ($5.8 million) last year from 29.4 million riyals in 2014. Dar Al Arkan rose 1.1 percent, recovering from a loss of the same size on Tuesday after Moody's lowered its credit rating of the real estate developer to B1 with a negative outlook from BA3 with a stable outlook.
Other Gulf stock markets were less volatile. Dubai's index edged down 0.3 percent as real estate bluechip Emaar Properties slid 1.1 percent. But GFH Financial gained 1.4 percent after Abu Dhabi Financial Group's capital markets arm, Integrated Capital, said it had increased its stake in GFH to 10 percent. Previously its stake was 7.4 percent, according to bourse data.
Shipper Gulf Navigation, the most heavily traded stock, surged 8.3 percent. It has been strong since it reported early this week that its profit doubled last year. Abu Dhabi edged up 0.2 percent as Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank climbed 1.9 percent, but the rest of the 10 most heavily traded stocks barely moved. Qatar's index fell 0.6 percent as Ezdan Holding dropped 1.4 percent after reporting a 27.3 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit and proposing a higher cash dividend for 2015.
Qatar Investors Group plunged 9.0 percent after it proposed delisting from the exchange and becoming a private shareholding company. An extraordinary general meeting on February 24 will discuss the proposal. Salam International Investment, which usually trades only thinly, was the most active stock and surged 3.1 percent. Egypt's index rose 0.9 percent on the back of real estate firms, with Palm Hills Development gaining 4.0 percent.