Saudi stocks gain strength

Saudi Arabia’s stock market rose on Wednesday while Gulf markets were little changed.
The prospect of some action to improve the oil market helped the Tadawul All-Share Index rise 1.1 percent in its third straight day of gains. Petrochemical blue chip Saudi Basic Industries Corp. gained 1.5 percent.
Insurer Alinma Tokio rose 3.8 percent in unusually heavy trade after it said it had narrowed its net loss to SR21.9 million ($5.8 million) last year from SR29.4 million in 2014.
Dar Al-Arkan rose 1.1 percent, recovering from a loss of the same size on Tuesday after Moody’s lowered its credit rating of the real estate developer to B1 with a negative outlook from BA3 with a stable outlook.
The value of traded shares reached SR5.62 billion.
Other Gulf stock markets were less volatile. Dubai’s index edged down 0.3 percent as real estate blue chip Emaar Properties slid 1.1 percent.
But GFH Financial gained 1.4 percent after Abu Dhabi Financial Group’s capital markets arm, Integrated Capital, said it had increased its stake in GFH to 10 percent. Previously its stake was 7.4 percent, according to bourse data.
Shipper Gulf Navigation, the most heavily traded stock, surged 8.3 percent. It has been strong since it reported early this week that its profit doubled last year.
Abu Dhabi edged up 0.2 percent as Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank climbed 1.9 percent, but the rest of the 10 most heavily traded stocks barely moved.
Qatar’s index fell 0.6 percent as Ezdan Holding dropped 1.4 percent after reporting a 27.3 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit and proposing a higher cash dividend for 2015.
Qatar Investors Group plunged 9.0 percent after it proposed delisting from the exchange and becoming a private shareholding company. An extraordinary general meeting on Feb. 24 will discuss the proposal.
Salam International Investment, which usually trades only thinly, was the most active stock and surged 3.1 percent.
Egypt’s index rose 0.9 percent on the back of real estate firms, with Palm Hills Development gaining 4.0 percent.
Source: Arab News