Most of region falls

Dubai : Most Middle Eastern stock markets fell yesterday with Saudi Arabia pulling further away from a major resistance level, although a surge by fuel distributor ADNOC Distribution buoyed Abu Dhabi.

The Saudi index slipped 0.3 per cent to 7,513 points, retreating from the July peak of 7,586 points.

Dairy company Almarai dropped 1.2pc after reporting fourth-quarter net profit of 513 million riyals ($137m), down from 536m riyals a year ago and below forecasts of 549m riyals by SICO Bahrain and 531m riyals by NCB Capital.

It blamed a 2.6pc decline in revenue on the loss of sales to Gulf and export countries, in an apparent reference to the embargo on Qatar.

Savola, Saudi Arabia’s largest food producer and a major shareholder in Almarai, slid 2.2pc. Saudia Dairy and Foodstuff Co fell 1.6pc after reporting a 14pc decline in quarterly profit, as sales shrank slightly.

In Dubai, the index fell 0.5pc as most property developers weakened, with DAMAC down 1.7pc.

Union Properties, however, edged up 0.4pc after saying it had sold its entire stake in district cooling firm Emicool to Dubai Investments, already the owner of the other 50pc, for 500m dirhams ($136m). Dubai Investments edged down 0.4pc.

Abu Dhabi’s index rose 0.2pc on the back of a 3pc gain by ADNOC Distribution to 2.73 dirhams. On Thursday, Goldman Sachs initiated the stock with a “buy” rating and a 12-month price target of 3.31 dirhams.

Qatar’s index dropped 0.6pc as Qatar National Bank, the biggest lender, fell 1.4pc. QNB’s loan growth is expected to fall back to between 7 and 9pc in 2018 from around 12pc in 2017, analysts said at the end of last week after an investor relations conference call with executives of the bank.

Egypt’s index fell 0.5pc, but Orascom Development surged 3pc after the board proposed a share split that would change the par value of the stock to 1 Egyptian pound from 5 pounds.