MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi hits 6-yr peak as investors shrug off SABIC Q1 | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi hits 6-yr peak as investors shrug off SABIC Q1 | Reuters:



"* SABIC up 1.4 pct despite minor earnings miss



* Savola climbs after strong Q1



* Property-related mid-caps boost Dubai



* Qatar index again approaches big chart barrier



* Kuwait Finance House down after major Q1 miss



By Matt Smith

DUBAI, April 20 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's main share index rose the most in a month to reach a fresh six-year high on Sunday as investors shook off a slight dip in quarterly profit from the bourse's biggest stock. Speculation in mid-cap stocks helped Dubai gain.



The Saudi measure advanced 1.1 percent to its highest close since June 2008, up 12.9 percent so far in 2014.



This came despite Saudi Basic Industries Corp reporting that its first-quarter net profit slid 1.8 percent from a year earlier to 6.44 billion riyals ($1.72 billion) after product prices fell. It missed the average analyst forecast of 6.79 billion riyals, but the stock ended 1.4 percent higher.



"SABIC is trading at reasonable valuations so we shouldn't expect a sharp sell-off, but at the same time there doesn't appear to be a short-term trigger to take its share price higher," said Shakeel Sarwar, head of asset management at Securities & Investment Co (SICO) in Bahrain."



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