PHOTO
* Egypt investors think IMF loan deal more probable
* Fears ease that Saudi is cutting financial aid to Cairo
* SABIC units diverge in Saudi after Q3 earnings
* Saudi banks mixed as results vary
* UAE, Qatar follow global shares lower
By Celine Aswad
DUBAI, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Egypt's stock market surged on Thursday as local investors welcomed news that Saudi Arabia had deposited $2 billion in the Egyptian central bank. Gulf markets were mixed.
Cairo's index of the 30 most valuable companies
.EGX30
rallied 3.9 percent to 8,505 points in its heaviest trade since early August.
Global Telecom
GTHE.CA
soared 11.6 percent to 5.20 Egyptian pounds. Investment bank EFG Hermes
HRHO.CA
jumped 4.4 percent.
Egyptian state news agency MENA reported the Saudi deposit on Wednesday night, saying it would boost the central bank's foreign currency reserves.
The prime minister told Reuters on Thursday that the deposit had already been received in September and included in that month's foreign reserves total, which stood at $19.6 billion.
Nevertheless, investors welcomed the news because it appeared to bring Egypt closer to clinching a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan, which depends on Cairo obtaining other support.
The deposit also eased fears that Saudi Arabia might be withdrawing its financial support of Egypt. Those fears were fanned earlier this week when a government official said Saudi Aramco had told the Egyptian state oil company that it was halting the supply of refined oil products to the country.
That caused the Egyptian pound to tumble more than 10 percent against the U.S. dollar in the black market to record lows.
GULF LOSES STEAM
Saudi Arabia's index
.TASI
lost steam in the final hour of trade and closed 0.02 percent up at 5,694 points, 60 points off the day's high. The index was up 1.1 percent for the week on firmer crude oil prices and third-quarter corporate earnings that were generally in line with analysts' expectations.
Yanbu National Petrochemical
2290.SE
(Yansab), a unit of Saudi Basic Industries
2010.SE
, dropped 2.3 percent on Thursday, after trading as much as 3.3 percent higher earlier in the day.
It reported third-quarter net profit of 607.6 million riyals ($162.1 million), more than double the year-earlier figure. The result was broadly in line with the 624.7 million riyal average forecast of analysts.
But Saudi Kayan Petrochemical
2350.SE
, another SABIC affiliate, closed up 4.1 percent after it swung to a net profit of 156.32 million riyals from a year-earlier loss of 13.81 million riyals; SICO Bahrain had forecast a profit of 105.00 million riyals and NCB Capital, a profit of 95.00 million riyals. Analysts attributed Kayan's results to higher-than-expected sales and gross margins.
Shares in SABIC rose 0.6 percent.
Some banks gained after they reported earnings. Arab National Bank
1080.SE
rose 1.6 percent despite a 5.6 percent slide in net profit that was broadly in line with analysts' forecasts. Bank Aljazira
1020.SE
climbed 3.0 percent after it reported a 3 percent decline in net income.
But Saudi British Bank
1060.SE
fell 0.9 percent after saying third-quarter profit fell 12.7 percent to 995 million riyals; analysts had predicted 1.14 billion riyals. It cited a rise in impairment charges for credit losses as the Saudi economy weakened because of low oil prices.
Dubai's index
.DFMGI
continued to slide, dropping 0.6 percent after Asian shares pulled back on weak Chinese economic data and U.S. Federal Reserve minutes suggested interest rates were likely to rise in December. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS
was down 1.2 percent.
Emaar Properties
EMAR.DU
, Dubai's top real estate firm, fell 1.3 percent.
Qatar's main index
.QSI
slipped 0.1 percent with a little over half of traded shares declining. Qatar National Bank
QNBK.QA
, which reported a rise in net profit for the last quarter earlier this week, pulled back 0.3 percent.
THURSDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA
* The index
.TASI
edged up 0.02 percent to 5,694 points.
DUBAI
* The index
.DFMGI
lost 0.6 percent to 3,335 points.
ABU DHABI
* The index
.ADI
fell 0.4 percent to 4,347 points.
EGYPT
* The index
.EGX30
jumped 3.9 percent to 8,505 points.
QATAR
* The index
.QSI
edged down 0.1 percent to 10,390 points.
KUWAIT
* The index
.KSWE
pulled back 0.4 percent to 5,328 points.
OMAN
* The index
.MSI
fell 0.4 percent to 5,660 points.
BAHRAIN
* The index
.BAX
rose 1.3 percent to 1,145 points. (Editing by Andrew Torchia, Larry King) ((celine.aswad@thomsonreuters.com; +971562247653; Reuters Messaging: celine.aswad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
* Fears ease that Saudi is cutting financial aid to Cairo
* SABIC units diverge in Saudi after Q3 earnings
* Saudi banks mixed as results vary
* UAE, Qatar follow global shares lower
By Celine Aswad
DUBAI, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Egypt's stock market surged on Thursday as local investors welcomed news that Saudi Arabia had deposited $2 billion in the Egyptian central bank. Gulf markets were mixed.
Cairo's index of the 30 most valuable companies
Global Telecom
Egyptian state news agency MENA reported the Saudi deposit on Wednesday night, saying it would boost the central bank's foreign currency reserves.
The prime minister told Reuters on Thursday that the deposit had already been received in September and included in that month's foreign reserves total, which stood at $19.6 billion.
Nevertheless, investors welcomed the news because it appeared to bring Egypt closer to clinching a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan, which depends on Cairo obtaining other support.
The deposit also eased fears that Saudi Arabia might be withdrawing its financial support of Egypt. Those fears were fanned earlier this week when a government official said Saudi Aramco had told the Egyptian state oil company that it was halting the supply of refined oil products to the country.
That caused the Egyptian pound to tumble more than 10 percent against the U.S. dollar in the black market to record lows.
GULF LOSES STEAM
Saudi Arabia's index
Yanbu National Petrochemical
It reported third-quarter net profit of 607.6 million riyals ($162.1 million), more than double the year-earlier figure. The result was broadly in line with the 624.7 million riyal average forecast of analysts.
But Saudi Kayan Petrochemical
Shares in SABIC rose 0.6 percent.
Some banks gained after they reported earnings. Arab National Bank
But Saudi British Bank
Dubai's index
Emaar Properties
Qatar's main index
THURSDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA
* The index
DUBAI
* The index
ABU DHABI
* The index
EGYPT
* The index
QATAR
* The index
KUWAIT
* The index
OMAN
* The index
BAHRAIN
* The index