Bank shares lift Saudi index

Most Gulf stock markets were in the red yesterday with Qatar leading losses as oil prices fell, while gains in banking shares supported the Saudi index. Oil prices dropped yesterday after data showed Chinese exports declined for a fourth straight month, sending jitters through a market already concerned about damage to global demand by the trade war between Washington and Beijing. In Saudi Arabia, the benchmark index rose a further 0.3 per cent, a day after it saw its biggest gain in a year.

On Sunday, the index climbed 2.4pc as the kingdom spearheaded a deal on Friday where OPEC and its allies agreed to extend production cuts by 500,000 barrels per day to support oil prices. National Commercial Bank gained 2.2pc and Samba Financial Group increased 2.3pc. Elsewhere, Sahara International Petrochemical (Sipchem) jumped 4.2pc after it’s board proposed to purchase up to 10pc of ordinary shares and hold them as treasury shares.

Qassim Cement climbed 4.1pc following its board proposal for a third-quarter cash dividend of 1 riyal per share. Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco is listing its shares on Wednesday on the Saudi exchange after completing the largest IPO on record. Aramco priced its IPO at 32 riyals ($8.53) per share, the top of its indicative range, the company said in a statement last week, raising $25.6 billion and beating Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s record $25 billion listing in 2014.

However, the Qatari index lost 1pc, snapping four straight days of gains, as declining stocks on the index outnumbered the gainers. The Gulf ’s largest lender Qatar National Bank retreated 2.4pc, whereas Industries Qatar was down 1.9pc. In Dubai, the index fell 0.4pc with Emaar Properties shedding 1.5pc and logistic firm Aramex down 2.5pc. The Abu Dhabi index was also down 0.4pc as telecoms firm Etisalat closed 0.9pc down, while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank ended down 1.1pc.

Egypt’s blue-chip index decreased 0.4pc with 23 of its 30 stocks declining. EFG Hermes slid 3.4pc and Eastern Company eased 1.3pc. Exchange data on Monday showed foreign investors as net sellers of Egyptian stocks. Bahrain was closed for a public holiday.