An investor looks up at screens displaying stock information at the Dubai Financial Market (file). Dubai’s index fell 1.3% yesterday as all but a handful of stocks declined. Lender Emirates NBD, down 2.3%, was one of the main drags on the benchmark.

Reuters/Dubai


Middle East stock markets fell yesterday after oil prices dropped to their lowest levels since March, and even better-than-expected earnings from the region’s biggest listed firm, Saudi Basic Industries, could not offset the overall gloom.
Brent and US crude futures on Friday posted their fourth straight weekly decline as weak economic data from China and a rise in US oil drilling rigs pressured them.
Gulf investors had ignored smaller oil price movements in the last few weeks, but with Brent below $55 per barrel and US oil under $50, crude once again grabbed their attention.
Petrochemicals giant Sabic rose 0.7% to 99 riyals after posting a profit of 6.17bn riyals ($1.64bn) for the quarter, down from 6.46bn riyals a year ago but well ahead of the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Reuters, 4.96bn riyals.
But Sabic shares came well off their early high of 102.75 riyals and the main Saudi stock index fell 0.8% as most banking stocks and other blue chips dropped. The kingdom’s biggest lender, National Commercial Bank, fell 1.5%.
Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Ma’aden) lost 1.3% after the price of one of its products, copper, fell to a six-year low as Chinese manufacturing contracted by the most in 15 months in July.
Sahara Petrochemical Co dropped 2.3%, having reported a 94% decrease in second-quarter profit.
Banque Saudi Fransi fell 2.6% as its shares no longer carried a semi-annual dividend. Herfy Food was down 1.0% for the same reason.
Dubai’s index fell 1.3% as all but a handful of stocks declined. Lender Emirates NBD, down 2.3%, was one of the main drags on the benchmark. It had risen 10.4% last week on strong second-quarter results. Amlak Finance, which had gained about 150% since the stock resumed trading in early June, dropped 3.6%. Many institutional investors believe the stock’s dramatic rise was fuelled by speculation and it is overvalued by commonly used metrics.
National Central Cooling Co (Tabreed) was one of just a few gainers, climbing 0.7% after posting a 2% increase in second-quarter profit. Abu Dhabi’s market slipped 0.4% and Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa), whose earnings are sensitive to oil prices, tumbled 4.2%. Another energy firm, Dana Gas, fell 5.1%.
Egypt’s market gave up early gains and closed 1.0% lower with most stocks in the red.
“I think it’s just profit-booking in some property names and banks,” said Harshjit Oza, analyst at the Cairo-based Naeem brokerage.
Also, Palm Hills Development tumbled 6.2% ahead of the addition of new shares placed through a rights issue, which will dilute the existing stock.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Kuwait’s index slipped 0.1% to 6,282 points, while Bahrain’s index was flat at 1,337 points.