Region edges up, building-related shares boost Saudi

Dubai : Middle Eastern stock markets edged up in quiet trade yesterday, with construction and building materials stocks boosting Saudi Arabia ahead of the release of its 2018 state budget this week.

Saudi Arabia’s index added 0.3 per cent as builder Khodari surged 7.6pc in its heaviest trade since January. Najran Cement gained 4.5pc and in addition to Khodari, the 10 best-performing stocks featured six cement producers.

The state budget, to be announced on Tuesday, is expected to be modestly expansionary and include a rise in infrastructure spending after two years of austerity.

Real estate firm Dar Al Arkan, the most heavily traded stock, fell back 3.6pc after soaring in the last several weeks.

The Dubai index edged up 0.3pc as construction firm Drake & Scull, which operates in Saudi Arabia, was the most heavily traded stock, rising 1.4pc.

The Kuwait stock index added 0.4pc after surging 1.5pc on Thursday. Kuwait Finance House climbed 0.7pc.

Other Gulf Arab central banks, whose currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar, raised interest rates in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s hike last Wednesday. But Kuwait, citing a desire to boost economic growth, did not tighten monetary policy; it manages its dinar against a dollar-dominated basket, which gives it more flexibility in policy.

In Egypt, the index climbed 0.3pc as Egypt Gas Co, which handles natural gas engineering and maintenance work, soared 10pc.

The company is expected to benefit from work related to Egypt’s giant Zohr gas field, where pilot production of gas started this month.

At the end of last week Egypt Gas forecast 2018 revenues of 2.61 billion Egyptian pounds ($146 million) and net profit of 24.6m pounds, compared to revenue of 1.10bn pounds and a net loss of 57m pounds in the first nine months of this year.

Markets in Qatar and Bahrain were closed for national holidays.