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Tadawul index rises slightly

JEDDAH/DUBAI: Egypt's Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) fell on Monday as confusion over an expected land sale court ruling spurred investors to dump the stock, weighing on Cairo's index.

Other Middle East markets were flat, with little to attract traders.

The Dubai index eased 0.05 percent to 1,510 points. The Abu Dhabi index edged up 0.06 percent to 2,537 points.

"Earnings have met expectations in that they have been largely neutral and not provided a catalyst to re-rate the market," said Ali Khan, managing director and head of brokerage at Arqaam Capital.

TMG fell 2.6 percent, declining for a second day since a court-assigned body recommended the court scrap a land contract between the developer and Egypt's housing ministry.

"The confusing messages from the different legislative powers and courts regarding Talaat Moustafa and Madinaty are creating tremendous confusion among investors," said Osama Mourad of Arab Finance Brokerage.

TMG is building its flagship Madinaty project of homes, schools, shops, hotels and a golf course on 8,304 acres (3,361 hectares) of land on Cairo's outskirts.

Egypt's index fell 0.9 percent to 6,306 points, ending an eight-day rally.

Telecoms stocks were mixed, a day after UAE regulator said it would ban select Blackberry services from October and sources said Saudi Arabia was planning a similar move.

Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) fell 1.1 percent and Etihad Etisalat dropped 1.8 percent, but Abu Dhabi-listed Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (Etisalat) ended flat and du and Zain Saudi Arabia rose.

"Data services contribute around 20 percent of STC's profit, with about half of that coming from services like BlackBerry, so the profits of local telecoms companies could be affected by around 7-10 percent," said Hesham Tuffaha, Bakheet Investment Group head of research.

"But telecoms are dynamic companies and they will adapt to create new services that will compensate for any loss of Blackberry services. The initial reaction of stocks will be negative, but longer term telecoms will remain attractive."

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) climbed 1.7 percent as firm oil prices boosted petrochemical stocks, with the crude seen as a key driver both of petrochemical product prices and demand.

"Petchems stocks have gained since forming a floor at the start of July, so may be the subject of some profit-taking in the coming days," added Tuffaha.

The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed 0.25 percent higher at 6,332.45 points. The sector activity for the day was mixed with 8 gaining sectors against 7 losing sectors. The overall market breadth for the day was also positive with 73 advancers against 47 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 1.55, the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.

Industries Qatar (IQ) rose 1.2 percent to a five-week high as investors bought in ahead of the expected release of its second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, helping Doha's index reach a similar milestone.

Doha's index rose 0.4 percent to 7,035 points, its highest finish since June 28.

"The index can reach 7,200 points, but we don't have the power to break above this," said Hani Girgis, assistant chief dealer at Dlala brokerage.

The Kuwaiti index fell 0.5 percent to 6,624 points.

- With input from agencies

© Arab News 2010