Saudi Arabia's stock market rebounded on Monday after three days of falls, welcoming Riyadh's plan to reduce oil supply in order to support crude prices. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank soared on news it would let foreigners buy its shares.
The Saudi index rose 0.8 percent after the energy minister said late on Sunday that Saudi Arabia would reduce oil supply to world markets by 0.5 million barrels per day in December, pushing Brent oil up more than 2 percent on Monday.
Financial heavyweight Al-Rajhi Bank added 1.1 percent and was the biggest boost to the bourse while Samba Financial Group climbed 1.2 percent. Al Baha Investment and Development Company jumped its 10 percent daily limit after posting a third-quarter profit after zakat and tax, compared with a year-ago loss.
Cement companies in the country's south, near the border with Yemen, added to Sunday's gains as some investors bet an eventual end to the Yemen war would boost regional cement demand for reconstruction. Najran Cement rose 1.6 percent and Southern Province Cement gained 1.2 percent. Abu Dhabi's main index suffered its worst day in almost two months and fell nearly 1 percent, as most banks dropped and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank was 3.9 percent lower.
Money may have flowed out of the banks into ADIB, which surged 13.4 percent to its highest level in over 2-1/2 years after saying it would allow foreigners to own 25 percent of the bank from Nov. 19.
Only UAE citizens have been able to own the bank's shares, and trading volume in the stock was the heaviest in a decade.
Egypt's blue-chip index was up 0.8 percent, helped by a 5.4 percent rise in El Sewedy Electric and a 4.1 percent gain in Eastern Co.
Orascom Development soared 9.9 percent to 5.90 Egyptian pounds after saying its third-quarter consolidated revenue grew 38 percent, prompting Pharos Securities to describe the company's results as "excellent".
Pharos noted that Orascom's third-quarter net contracted sales had more than doubled year-on-year as it reiterated an 'overweight' recommendation for the stock. It gave a fair value estimate of 13 pounds per share.
The Dubai index, down for a third consecutive session, fell 0.5 percent as property stocks dragged on the index. Emaar Properties shed 2.7 percent while DAMAC Properties lost 1.9 percent.
The Qatar index inched higher for a third straight session and was up 0.2 percent. Qatar National Bank, the Middle East's largest lender, rose 1.5 percent after it promoted chief business officer Abdulla Mubarak al-Khalifa to acting chief executive. Chief executive Ali Ahmed al-Kuwari was appointed Qatar's minister of commerce and industry last week.
Comments
Comments are closed.