JEDDAH/DUBAI: Kuwaiti telecoms group Zain rose on takeover speculation on Sunday in a regional rally that saw most Gulf Arab bourses rise on strength in global equities and oil.
Zain closed at its highest level since Sept. 23 last year, climbing 5.4 percent as the stock led gains on the index.
“Speculation surrounding Zain is continuing. There are all sorts of rumors and that is continuing to fuel the rally,” said Shahid Hameed, head of asset management, GCC, at Global Investment House in Kuwait.
The firm’s shareholders are in talks to sell a stake in the group, its chief executive said on Sunday after the close of business on the Kuwaiti stock exchange.
Property shares in the United Arab Emirates were also key gainers.
In Abu Dhabi, Aldar Properties surged 6 percent to its highest close since December, while in neighboring Dubai Emaar Properties rallied 6.6 percent, its biggest one-day gain in a month, and highest close since June.
Dubai, the region’s biggest gainer, rose 2 percent to 1,958 points and Abu Dhabi’s benchmark climbed 1.6 percent to 2,933 points.
National Bank of Abu Dhabi rose 1.1 percent after it said it plans to sell more bonds after raising $850 million last week.
Saudi Arabia bucked the trend and was the only bourse to end lower, having broken a seven-session losing streak on Saturday. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed 0.05 percent lower at 5,667.94 points.
A negative day, with only 4 sectors closing with gains, namely the Insurance, Petrochemical, Cement and Energy sectors, which were up 0.97 percent, 0.24 percent, 0.22 percent and 0.03 percent respectively. Losses were seen in all other sectors ranging from 0.08 percent by the Banks and Financial services to 1.13 percent by the Hotel and Tourism sector. Market breadth remained negative with 38 advancers against 74 decliners giving an AD ratio of 0.51, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.
Oman continued its bull run, hitting a fresh closing high since November last year while banks led Qatar to rise after two trading days of falls.
Bahrain Telecommunications Co. (Batelco) was among the gainers after its chief executive was cited in a newspaper saying the firm is studying an acquisition in North Africa of up to $2 billion. Bahrain’s bourse gained 0.6 percent to 1,524 points.
Kuwait’s main index closed at 7,829 points on Sunday and Qatar’s index 7,073 points.
