JEDDAH/DUBAI: Middle East markets rebounded on Monday, with Egypt recouping most of its previous day’s losses, but volumes were thin as investors remained on the sidelines in the absence of significant catalysts.
“What we are seeing today, with regard to volumes, is a contagion effect of high volatility internationally,” said Marwan Shurrab, vice-president and chief trader at Gulfmena Alternative Investments.
Egypt’s main index rose 2.5 percent to 6,998 points, shrugging off a dip on Sunday, on the back of strong interest in Orascom Telecom, which climbed 3.4 percent. Indexes in Dubai and Abu Dhabi rose 1 and 0.8 percent respectively, helped by gains in financial stocks, but volumes were low on both the markets.
The Dubai index closed at 1,647 points and the Abu Dhabi index at 2,704 points.
Shuaa Capital climbed 3.2 percent to recover some ground, two days after the investment bank posted a $42 million quarterly loss and ahead of the company providing details on its future strategy later on Monday.
Saudi Arabia’s index edged up slightly, helped mainly by a 2.8 percent rise in Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co. (Safco), while Saudi Basic Industries Corp. fell 0.3 percent after late-selling. The latter had risen 0.8 percent earlier in the day on higher oil prices and has fallen 1.7 percent in the past month.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) increased by 0.09 percent to 6,222.03 on Monday. Despite a slightly positive close, sector movement had strong downward pressure, as only 5 of the 15 sectors closed with a gain. Sector gains ranged from 0.06 percent in the Building & Construction sector to a gain of 0.67 percent in the Agricultural & Food Industries sector. On the other hand, sector losses across the other 10 sectors ranged from 0.03 percent in the Retail to a loss of 1.55 percent in the Insurance sector. Overall market breadth was negative, with 34 advancers and 87 decliners registering an AD ratio of 0.39., the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.
Kuwait’s index rose 0.7 percent to 7,151 points, backed mainly by a surge in the shares of telecom operator Zain, which rallied for the second consecutive day to touch a two-week high.
A 2.3 percent rise in Commercial Bank of Qatar helped the country’s index rise 0.4 percent to 6,760 points.
The Omani index rose 0.4 percent to 6,499 points.
The Bahraini index dropped 0.1 percent to 1,506 points.
— With input from agencies