MIDEAST STOCKS- #Saudi index leads losses with most Gulf markets subdued | Nasdaq

MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi index leads losses with most Gulf markets subdued | Nasdaq

Major Gulf markets ended lower on Wednesday with the Saudi index leading losses, while Egypt's bourse was hurt by a blue-chip selloff.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index .TASI fell 0.9%, with Saudi Electricity 5110.SE shedding 3.7% and National Gas and Industrialization Company 2080.SE dropping 1%.

However, National Commercial Bank (NCB) 1180.SE advanced 1.3% after it reported on Tuesday a nearly 24% rise in third-quarter net profit.

The kingdom's largest lender posted a net profit of 3.16 billion riyals ($842.60 million) in the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 2.55 billion a year earlier.

Dubai's main share index .DFMGI slipped 0.2%, hurt by a 2.6% fall in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties EMAR.DU and a 1.3% fall in logistics firm Aramex ARMX.DU.

The Abu Dhabi index .ADI dropped 0.5%, weighed down by a 1.1% decline in telecoms firm Etisalat ETISALAT.AD and a 3.5% slide in Aldar Properties ALDAR.AD, ending four sessions of gains.

On Monday, Aldar saw its biggest intraday gain in nearly six years after announcing it will take over the management and development of government capital projects worth 30 billion dirhams ($8.17 billion) under an agreement with state-backed ADQ.

In Qatar, the index .QSI fell 0.3%, with Industries Qatar IQCD.QA losing 1.1%, a day after the petrochemical firm reported a net profit of 951 million riyals ($261.26 million) for the first nine months of 2020, down from 2 billion riyals a year earlier.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index .EGX30 closed down 0.4%, with most of the stocks on the index in negative territory including Madinet Nasr MNHD.CA, which was down 3.7%.