The developer posted a net loss of 80.6 million riyals ($21.5 million) on Wednesday compared with a profit of 469.6 million a year earlier, blaming the losses on lower revenue from sales of residential units. Advanced Petrochemical fell 1.7%. It reported a rise in third-quarter net profit of more than 5% but revenue dropped more than 13%.
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia's finance minister said the kingdom expects its oil gross domestic product (GDP) to fall by 3% this year. In Dubai the index slipped 0.3%, with its largest lender Emirates NBD and sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank falling 0.4% each. In the real estate sector, blue-chip developer Emaar Properties was down 0.9%.
The Qatari index reversed course to close 0.9% lower, led by a 2.6% fall in market heavyweight Industries Qatar and a 1.5% drop in Qatar National Bank. On Oct. 27 the former reported a 47% fall in nine-month net profit to 2 billion riyals ($549.5 million) from 3.8 billion a year earlier. Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip stock index extended gains for a sixth consecutive session, gaining 0.6% as its largest lender Commercial International Bank added 0.6%.