Gulf stock markets moved generally little on Thursday with the approach of Eidul Fitr holidays next week limiting activity, but United Arab Emirates bourses outperformed on the back of bank shares. The Saudi index gave up modest early gains to close flat although the petrochemical sector was firm after oil prices jumped overnight. The sector's index climbed 0.4 percent.
In a sign of market caution, L'azurde Company for Jewellery, which had risen 7.6 percent when it listed on Wednesday, fell back 6.5 percent. In the past, most newly listed Saudi stocks have risen sharply for several days, but L'azurde is a play on the Saudi retail sector, where consumers' discretionary income has been squeezed by an economic slowdown caused by government austerity steps.
A monthly poll of 14 leading Middle East fund managers, published on Thursday, found them cautious on regional equities in general because of slowing economies and the impact of government cost-cutting on corporate profits. Only 7 percent of respondents expected to increase their allocations to Middle East equities in the next three months and the same proportion anticipated cutting allocations.
Nevertheless, UAE markets rose in late trade on Thursday with Dubai's index gaining 1.2 percent in thin turnover. Dubai Islamic Bank added 1.8 percent and Emirates NBD, the biggest lender, rose by the same margin. Abu Dhabi's index jumped 1.8 percent, buoyed by a 5.0 percent rise in First Gulf Bank and a 3.8 percent gain by National Bank of Abu Dhabi. The banks announced earlier this month that they were in merger talks with each other. Egypt was closed for a national holiday.
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