Monday 21 October 2024

Gulf bourses end mixed on regional tensions, Q3 earnings | Reuters

Gulf bourses end mixed on regional tensions, Q3 earnings | Reuters


Stock markets in the Gulf were mixed on Monday amid rising geopolitical tensions in the region, while investors await more companies to report quarterly results.

Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes late on Sunday, as Israel prepared to attack sites linked to the financial operations of Lebanon's Hezbollah group.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab advanced 1.1%, led by a 2.8% rise in Al Rajhi Bank (1120.SE), opens new tab and a 0.4% increase in aluminium products manufacturer Al Taiseer Group (4143.SE), opens new tab.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab added 0.2%.

Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - rose, recouping some of last week's more than 7% decline on worries about demand in China, the world's top oil importer, and easing concerns about potential supply disruptions in the Middle East.

Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI), opens new tab finished 0.2% higher, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties (EMAR.DU), opens new tab gaining 2.3%.

The Abu Dhabi index (.FTFADGI), opens new tab closed flat.

Separately, Lulu Retail Holdings, which runs one of the Middle East's biggest hypermarket chains, kicked off an initial public offering on Monday that bankers say could be the UAE's largest this year.

In Qatar, the index (.QSI), opens new tab eased 0.1%, with Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA), opens new tab losing 1.9%.

Meanwhile, the Gulf state is finding it hard to agree new deals to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japan and South Korea as rising competition from the U.S. and elsewhere with more flexible contract terms challenges Doha's decades-old dominance of the market.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab jumped 3.1%, snapping three sessions of losses, as almost all the stocks on the index were in positive territory including Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA), opens new tab, which was up 3.9%.

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