Several people were hurt when Kuwaiti police intervened to
disperse an opposition gathering on Wednesday, prompting a call to question the
Gulf Arab state’s prime minister in Parliament, regional media reported.
Eleven of Kuwait’s 15 largest stocks fell, with three flat
and only Burgan Bank rising as it climbed 1.9 percent.
“The violence in Kuwait last night affected the market,”
said Naser Al-Nafisi, general manager for Al Joman Center for Economic
Consultancy in Kuwait. “There’s the Zain issue and now we have this political
issue, so trading is bit silent today. Trading since Eid has gone lower and
lower.”
A day earlier, a local court delayed hearing a lawsuit from
a Zain shareholder unhappy with Etisalat’s $12 billion bid for a 46-percent
stake in the Kuwait telecoms firm until Dec. 15.
Zain fell 1.4 percent and Kuwait Food Co. lost 2.5 percent.
The Kharafi group holds stakes in both firms.
Kuwait’s index fell 0.6 percent to be just above Dec. 2’s
10-week low.
Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties rose 2 percent. It is up 8
percent in two days as investors bet government support could be imminent for
the indebted developer.
An Aldar spokesman said the company would not comment on
rumor or speculation.
Aldar has made a loss for four straight quarters and has 14
billion dirhams of debt maturing next year, according to investment bank
EFG-Hermes.
“Aldar is a strategic company for the Abu Dhabi government,”
said Chet Riley, Nomura property analyst.
“Sales have slowed down, credit markets have effectively
dried up and 2011 will be a pinch point in terms of debt maturity and Aldar has
to find a way to refinance.”
Qatar’s index fell for the first session since the country
was chosen to host the 2022 soccer World Cup, easing from Wednesday’s 26-month
high to trim its weekly gains to 6.9 percent.
“Now the euphoria is fading, volumes will calm down and
people will take some profits,” said Robert Pramberger, acting head of asset
management at Doha-based investment company The First Investor. “We have to go
back to fundamentals to see which stocks are cheap. Which companies will be
involved with what projects and how much of a revenue boost will these
provide?”
Barwa Real Estate fell 2 percent and Vodafone Qatar lost 1.2
percent.
Egypt’s Commercial International Bank (CIB) rose 4.2 percent
as foreign investors poured money into Cairo stocks.
“CIB is really flying. Foreign investors have taken an
interest in it,” said Mohamed Radwan of Pharos Securities. “There is fresh
money moving into the market, especially into real estate and finance.”
Orascom Telecom (OT) climbed 1.4 percent after a top
shareholder in Vimpelcom said the Russian firm’s $6.6 billion deal to buy most
of OT’s assets from the latter’s parent company Weather could close in the
middle of the first half of 2011 if debt refinancing talks succeed.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi’s benchmark rose 0.3 percent to 2,762
points while Dubai fell 0.5 percent to 1,693 points. Qatar’s and Bahrain
bourses dropped 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent respectively. Bahrain’s stocks fell
0.5 percent to 1,426 points.
