Saudi outperforms Gulf

Saudi Arabia’s stock market surged yesterday, outperforming most major Gulf markets, boosted by strong corporate earnings and improved market sentiment after a threeday investment conference in Riyadh. The index closed 4.3 per cent higher in heavy volume at 7,836 points, the highest in two weeks.

A major international investment conference in Riyadh drew to a close on Thursday with the government announcing the signing of billions of dollars worth of deals or memorandums of understanding. “The crown prince’s message at FII (Future Investment Initiative) was more on the positive side and there is improved sentiment in the market on the back of that, and there has been a lot more retail money coming in, which shows the public is supportive,” Nadi Barghouti, head of asset management at Emirates Investment Bank, said.

Next week will be crucial for the market to see if the money is coming in from strategic buyers or shorter-term bargain hunters, Barghouti added. Al Rajhi Bank jumped 6.6pc after reporting a 13.6pc rise in third-quarter profit, largely in line with analyst estimates. Top petrochemical group Saudi Basic Industries also jumped 6.2pc, while Arab National Bank rose 7.2pc after its third-quarter profit rose 14.7pc due to lower operating expenses. Saudi British Bank was up 4.6pc after posting a third-quarter profit of 1.25 billion riyals ($333 million), against 1.08 billion a year ago.

Egypt’s blue-chip index fell 1.7pc, mirroring weakness in emerging markets which hit their lowest in 19 months. MSCI’s index of emerging market stocks was down 0.8pc after falling as much as 1.7pc earlier. Helipolis was down 1.5pc after agreeing to sell land to deal with its liquidity problem, while Memphis Pharmaceuticals fell 1.7pc after a wider first-quarter loss. The Abu Dhabi index lost 0.9pc, dragged down by banking stocks. First Abu Dhabi Bank fell 2.4pc and Union Insurance dropped 9.8pc. The Dubai index edged down 0.1pc, with Emirates NBD falling 1.5pc.