24/11/2010
Mideast markets track global declines
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and Yanbu National Petrochemical Co.’s (Yansab) each fell 2 percent. Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co. (Safco) rose 0.5 percent.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed at 6,295.49 points after losing 67.71 points; a drop of1.06 percent. The sector activity for the day was completely negative sectors. The losing sectors ranged from -0.18 percent by the cement sector to -1.70 percent by the petrochemical industries sector. The overall market breadth for the day was negative with 13 advancers against 121 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 0.10. The liquidity for the day reached SR2.37 billion, the Financial Transaction House reported in its daily market commentary.
“Asian stocks took a beating in the morning after the Korea trouble and there’s no local news flow in Saudi Arabia, so we had to react to what was happening internationally,” said a Riyadh-based trader who asked not to identified.
TASI saw its largest drop in five weeks and it was a similar story on other Middle East bourses, with brokers saying a lack of stock specific catalysts had strengthened a link with global equities.
The declines came after tensions in the Korean Peninsula prompted investors to trim risky assets, and the euro stayed under pressure as Ireland’s debt crisis raged on.
Qatar’s index made its biggest drop in six months on Tuesday, easing from the previous day’s two-year high, as most Middle East bourses tracked global declines following North Korea’s attack on South Korea.
Petrochemicals and fertilizer producer Industries Qatar fell 3.3 percent.
Qatar National Bank dropped 2.7 percent and Commercial Bank of Qatar lost 1.6 percent. Qatar’s index fell 1.8 percent, its biggest decline since May.
“Qatar has outperformed regionally over the past five sessions and so it’s to be expected that it would have the strongest profit-taking today,” said Robert Pramberger, acting head of asset management at Doha-based investment company The First Investor.
Egypt’s heavyweight Orascom Construction (OCI) fell 2.3 percent. The firm was up 0.3 percent in early trade after reporting above-forecast third-quarter earnings, but then fell as events in Korea spooked traders.
Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG), Egypt’s biggest listed developer, slipped 0.4 percent after a court prolonged a legal wrangle, saying the government must auction land previously sold directly to the firm.
In Dubai, Emaar Properties dropped 1.9 percent and builder Arabtec fell 2.6 percent as the emirate’s index slumped to a seven-week low.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi stocks climbed 0.07 percent to 2,756 points while Kuwait’s benchmark fell 0.7 percent to 6,918 points. Oman’s index slipped 0.6 percent to 6,556 points. However, Bahrain’s stocks edged up 0.02 percent to 1,452 points.
