Most major Gulf stock markets fell on Tuesday after Brent oil tumbled 5 percent, briefly falling below $50 per barrel, although some supportive economic and corporate news softened the blow. Saudi Arabia's main index edged down 0.6 percent as petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries slipped 1.4 percent. The firm's profits are sensitive to oil prices, which plunged on Monday although Brent regained a little ground on Tuesday to trade just above $50.
Most other petrochemicals companies also fell and the sector's index was down 1.0 percent. Telecommunications firm Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) dropped 3.1 percent to a fresh six-year low of 30.20 riyals. The stock tumbled 7.4 percent in the previous session after Mobily restated results for 2013-14 and the first quarter of 2015, slashing total profits over the period by nearly 1.76 billion riyals ($470 million), and posted a loss of 900.9 million riyals for the second quarter of this year.
But a number of Saudi stocks rose, recovering from a sell-off earlier this week. Saudi Airline Catering climbed 0.8 percent after it announced a quarterly dividend of 1.75 riyals, the same as in the last four quarters. Saudi Arabia's non-oil private sector grew faster in July after hitting a record low in June, a survey of businesses showed on Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 57.7 points last month from 56.1 in June, which was its lowest level since the survey was launched in August 2009.
Unlike markets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Qatar's bourse rose, gaining 0.5 percent as Industries Qatar climbed 1.9 percent after strong second-quarter results. The firm reported a 20 percent increase in second-quarter profit to 1.5 billion riyals ($412 million) against analysts' average estimate of 1.21 billion riyals. Egypt's bourse rose 1.2 percent with property companies among the main supports. Developer Emaar Misr
climbed 1.5 percent, having posted a 283 percent jump in net profit for the first half of this year and strong sales growth. Heliopolis Housing rose 1.3 percent after posting an 11.4 percent increase in net profit for the 2014/15 fiscal year. Real estate consultants JLL said in a quarterly report, released on Tuesday, that all sectors of the Cairo property market had performed positively with sentiment improving in the second quarter.
"Within the residential sector prices are expected to continue to rise in New Cairo, on the back of major new announcements..." said Ayman Sami, head of JLL's Egypt office. But he said projects to the west of Cairo were unlikely to see such strong price growth. Ezz Steel jumped 3.0 percent after state company EGAS confirmed earlier media reports about plans to contract a new floating liquefied natural gas terminal. The deal could help Egypt boost LNG imports and ease energy shortages that have forced companies such as steel makers to curb output.
DUBAI: The index edged down 0.6 percent to 4,097 points.
ABU DHABI: The index slipped 0.2 percent to 4,812 points.
QATAR: The index climbed 0.5 percent to 11,812 points.
EGYPT: The index rose 1.2 percent to 8,182 points.
KUWAIT: The index edged up 0.2 percent to 6,224 points.
OMAN: The index fell 0.5 percent to 6,467 points.
BAHRAIN: The index rose 0.2 percent to 1,333 points.