Most Gulf bourses declined yesterday in a wave of profit-taking triggered partly by oil's temporary weakness in the aftermath of the world powers' nuclear deal with Iran.
The main stock index in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, shed 0.6% yesterday. Dubai, however, rose 0.6% as investors made last-minute bets on its bid to host the Expo 2020 world fair. The winning bid is to be announced after the close today.
Emar Properties, which investors see as a major beneficiary of the Expo, gained 1.3%. Builder Arabtec rose 2.0% after announcing it would boost its stake in energy-focused contractor Target Engineering as part of a push into the oil and gas services sector.
Investors in London, however, showed caution over Dubai real estate exposure; the emirate's Damac Real Estate revised the pricing of its $500mn initial public offer of shares in London to the bottom of the initial $12.25-17.25 range.
Abu Dhabi's index edged up 0.05%. Sudanese telecommunications operator Sudatel slipped 4.6% after saying in a bourse statement it had no explanation for a 41% share price jump over the previous three sessions.
Profit-taking was most aggressive in Egypt. The country's main index dropped 1.8%, led by stocks which had previously been favourites of retail investors.
Commercial International Bank declined 4.8%, even though it announced on Monday a 3bn Egyptian pound ($436mn) share dividend. In the last five months, the stock has gained 52%.
Elsewhere, in Bahrain the index rose 0.3% to 1,197 points, in Oman the index slid 0.4% to 6,726 points and the Kuwait index fell 0.5% to 7,798 points.
© Gulf Times 2013
