The bourse, known as Tadawul, said Taha bin Abdullah Al-Quwiaz was elected chairman of the board and Mansour bin Saleh Al-Maiman as vice chairman, Reuters said.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) fell 0.14 percent to close at 6,626.89 on Sunday.
The sector activity for the day was mostly positive with 10 out of 15 closing with gains ranging from 0.05 percent by the Energy & Utilities sector to 1.60 percent by the Industrial Investment sector.
On the other hand, the losing sectors ranged from 0.17 percent by the Petrochemical Industries sector to 0.54 percent by the Banks & Financial Services sector.
The overall market breadth for the day was negative with 56 advancers against 66 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 0.84, the Financial Transaction House (FTH — licensed by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) — said in its daily market commentary.
The liquidity for the day reached SR3.27 billion.
Meanwhile, Dubai’s Emaar Properties edged higher on Sunday, shrugging off a 62 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit, as Middle East markets gave a muted response to the end of Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule in Egypt.
“The market has accepted the peaceful transfer of authority in Egypt, but there are worries as to how fast the Egyptian economy can stabilize,” said Youssef Kassantini, a Saudi-based financial analyst.
Emaar climbed 0.3 percent after being up as much as 2.8 percent intra-day.
The developer made a quarterly profit of 274 million dirhams ($74.6 million), missing forecasts and down from 720 million dirhams a year earlier after it took 417 million dirhams in impairments and provisions.
“Emaar is priced at a premium to peers, while this is justified, we are cautious given the rising uncertainties,” said Majed Azzam, AlembicHC real estate analyst.
“The best years are over for Emaar and there will probably be deterioration in both the top and bottom line in 2011, driven by margin compression as well as more impairments.”
Emaar’s impairments were likely to have come from mortgage affiliate Amlak and Dubai Bank.
“We remain positive on the medium-term prospects for Emaar particularly as ancillary corporate distractions get resolved,” Chet Riley, Nomura property analyst, wrote in a research note. “We retain our buy rating and would accumulate on weakness.”
The Dubai index rose 0.4 percent to 1,604 points.
Abu Dhabi-listed Dana Gas, which is active in Egypt, rose 4.5 percent. The Abu Dhabi index climbed 0.6 percent to 2,728 points, Reuters said.
Kuwaiti banks were mixed as the index slumped to a 23-week low. The index dropped 0.3 percent to 6,716 points.
“Liquidity is low and people are waiting for the market to take a direction,” said Jasem Al-Zeraei, head of institutional sales at NBK Capital. He said this was likely to come with the publication of companies’ full annual results.
“The bank sector is getting the bulk of interest and it seems like people are parking their cash there for the time being,” Zeraei added.
Qatari banks rose to lift Doha’s index to a two-week high. The index climbed 0.7 percent to 9,016 points.
In early February, Qatar’s central bank said conventional banks must stop their Islamic operations by the end of 2011, pushing Islamic bank stocks higher, while shares in some conventional banks weakened.
“The separation of Islamic and conventional banking will allow for a stricter and more uniform interpretation of Shariah rules,” said Robert Pramberger, acting head of asset management at Doha-based The First Investor.
The Omani index climbed 0.6 percent to 6,955 points.
The Bahrain measure rose 0.05 percent to 1,468 points.
