Gulf stock markets were generally quiet in early trade on Sunday although Saudi Arabia stayed positive after beginning to rebound late last week from several days of profit-taking. The Saudi stock index was up 0.2 percent in the first hour as Bank Aljazira climbed 3.6 percent after saying its rights issue of 300 million shares had been 90 percent subscribed at the end of the subscription period.
Loss-making home furnishings maker Al Sorayai Trading , which jumped last week as its chief executive resigned, added a further 6.0 percent. Petrochemical blue chip Saudi Basic Industries, which will be a major focus of foreign investors when Riyadh joins emerging market indexes, rose 0.7 percent in active trade.
In Abu Dhabi, which fell 0.9 percent, energy producer Dana Gas lost 1.0 percent; the company said it had received a new English court injunction blocking it from paying dividends in its dispute with creditors over $700 million of Islamic bonds. Dana said it would challenge the order.
The market was sluggish in Dubai, where the index was down 0.7 percent, with Gulf General Investment the worst performer, down 6.7 percent. The company is in talks with its lenders to restructure loans and credit lines after having defaulted on a debt repayment last year. It said on Sunday it plans to discuss at a general assembly meeting late this month a proposed capital reduction to 586 million dirhams ($159.5 million) from 1.7 billion dirhams to extinguish accumulated losses.