PHOTO
DUBAI, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Banking shares dragged Saudi Arabian stocks lower in early trade on Sunday while markets in the rest of the region moved little as investors readied for third-quarter corporate earnings announcements.
The Saudi stock index
.TASI
fell 0.5 percent in the first 75 minutes as the banking index
.TBFSI
dropped 0.9 percent.
The central bank has told commercial banks to postpone for a month receiving payments on consumer loans to customers whose incomes have been hit by cuts to public sector allowances, the Okaz newspaper reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources.
Central bank officials were not available to comment.
Telecommunications firm Zain Saudi
7030.SE
fell 2.7 percent, continuing a pull-back after surging early last week on hopes it would benefit from deregulation of the sector.
Retailer Jarir Marketing
4190.SE
climbed 3.1 percent after it reported a net profit of 220 million riyals ($58.7 million) for the three months to Sept. 30, up from 218.5 million riyals a year earlier. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted 200.6 million riyals.
Dairy company Almarai
2280.SE
gained 1.4 percent after reporting a 10 percent increase in third-quarter net profit to 654.6 million riyals. Analysts had forecast 627.8 million.
Dubai's index
.DFMGI
was flat. The most heavily traded stock, DXBE Entertainments
DXBE.DU
, climbed 1.3 percent before it opens theme park facilities at the end of this month.
Abu Dhabi's index
.ADI
dropped 0.5 percent as Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
ADIB.AD
sank 1.4 percent, while Qatar
.QSI
was flat amid a 3.1 percent slide in Qatar Islamic Insurance
QIIC.QA
.
In Egypt, the index
.EGX30
rose 0.5 percent after a senior International Monetary Fund official said the IMF's initial loan payment to Egypt would be about $2.5 billion and that he hoped to secure board approval for a $12 billion loan programme within the next month.
ID:nL2N1CD14N
El Saeed Contracting and Real Estate
UEGC.CA
jumped 4.7 percent to 0.90 Egyptian pounds after it said it was buying 17 million treasury shares at 0.96 pounds per share.
Investment firm Qalaa Holdings
CCAP.CA
dropped 4.8 percent after reporting a sharply wider quarterly net loss.
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(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; editing by John Stonestreet) ((andrew.torchia@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 6681 7277)(Reu
The Saudi stock index
The central bank has told commercial banks to postpone for a month receiving payments on consumer loans to customers whose incomes have been hit by cuts to public sector allowances, the Okaz newspaper reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources.
Central bank officials were not available to comment.
Telecommunications firm Zain Saudi
Retailer Jarir Marketing
Dairy company Almarai
Dubai's index
Abu Dhabi's index
In Egypt, the index
El Saeed Contracting and Real Estate
Investment firm Qalaa Holdings
(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; editing by John Stonestreet) ((andrew.torchia@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 6681 7277)(Reu