The main stock exchanges in the Gulf region recorded a mixed performance at the close, at the end of the week (except for the UAE) in the Thursday session, amid fluctuating oil prices, while the Qatari index jumped more than one percent, supported by the recovery in gas prices.
Oil prices, a major catalyst for Gulf financial markets, have fluctuated as markets searched for a sharp increase in US crude inventories and hopes for a recovery in Chinese demand.
Brent crude futures were last up 20 cents, or 0.23 percent, at $85.59 a barrel.
The Qatari index rose 1.8 percent, supported by a 2.9 percent rise in Industries Qatar Petrochemical Company, and a 5.5 percent jump in Masraf Al Rayan, with almost all other shares listed on the index rising.
Fadi Riyad, senior market analyst at Capix.com Middle East and North Africa, attributed the rise after a series of losses to the end of a wave of falling natural gas prices.
Nymex natural gas futures jumped 3 percent. The benchmark index in Dubai closed 0.2 percent higher, supported by gains in the industrial and utilities sectors after a session of volatile trading, while the Saudi index closed 0.2 percent lower, with most sectors trading in the red zone, and the share of Al Rajhi Bank, the largest Islamic bank in the world, fell 0.7 percent.
Solutions, a subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Company (STC), fell 9.1 percent after a 26.5 percent jump in full-year net profit fell short of analysts’ estimates.
In Abu Dhabi, the index fell 0.3 percent, affected by a 1.8 percent drop in First Abu Dhabi Bank, the UAE’s largest bank, and 5.5 percent in Americana International restaurants.
Abu Dhabi National Energy rose 3.2 percent after Japan’s Jera said on Wednesday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with it to explore opportunities for developing carbon removal projects such as hydrogen and ammonia projects.
Outside the Gulf region, the Egyptian blue-chip index fell 0.2 percent, ending gains that lasted for two sessions, affected by the 1.5 percent drop in the share of Commercial International Bank Egypt. (Archyde.com)