Saudi Basic Industries Corp.
(SABIC) gained 1.9 percent, lifting the TASI index 0.6 percent to
6,088.25, after saying it is planning a $1 billion-plus facility in
China.Egypt’s index gained 2.3 percent on heavy buying of Mobinil
after some traders said Egyptian telecoms magnate Naguib Sawiris might
be preparing to sell shares in the mobile operator. He denied this in
comments to Reuters.Mobinil, whose shares have fallen 44 percent
this year, touching its lowest level since 2004 on Aug. 9 at 86 pounds,
was the biggest gainer on the index, up 10 percent. Parent company
Orascom Telecom gained 5.2 percent. Mobinil is a joint venture
between France Telecom and Orascom, a company founded by Sawiris in
which Russia’s Vimpelcom acquired a controlling stake in March.
Sawiris’s family also has a stake in Mobinil. “The stock is really
distressed and there’s massive buying in the market. Everyone wanted to
buy it at 86 pounds,” said Ashraf Akhnoukh of CIBC brokerage. “What we’re seeing today could be the equivalent of two months’ volume.” Despite regional gains, traders said Gulf investors were unconvinced by efforts to resolve the European debt crisis. France
and Germany unveiled far-reaching plans on Tuesday for closer euro zone
integration but they disappointed investors by ruling out common euro
bond issuance for now. “It’s not going to change much in the short
run, there was a hope in the market that they would come out with a
game-changing plan like a bond issue but that was far-fetched,” said
Abdul Kadir Hussain, chief executive at Mashreq Capital in Dubai. “We’re probably still going to gyrate based on what happens in global markets and what happens in terms of global growth.” In
Qatar, banks helped lift the benchmark 0.8 percent to a nine-day high,
but volumes were low as investors waited for news to trigger buying. Qatar National Bank climbed 0.6 percent, Commercial Bank of Qatar gained 3.4 percent and Qatar Islamic Bank rose 1.4 percent. “Qatar
is the most insulated market, their income is way bigger than their
economy and they can afford to weather the storm,” said Rami Sidani from
Schroders Middle East. “They are accumulating massive surpluses.
Domestic names will be quite defensive in the turmoil. Any weakness is
an advantage to enter these stocks.” In Oman, oil services firm Renaissance Services dropped 6.3 percent, before its trading was halted. The
company’s shares have dropped by the maximum allowed 10 percent for two
days to an all-time low after it reported fraud at its unit Topaz, and
saw a 77-percent drop in first-half net profit. Banks helped index
rise 0.6 percent. Bank Muscat rose 0.6 percent, National Bank of Oman
climbed 0.7 percent and Bank Sohar gained 2.2 percent. “The market
saw a strong support today from local pension funds and retail clients
came back with a focus on banking sector,” said Adel Nasr, United
Securities brokerage manager. Kuwait’s index slipped 0.2 percent, while markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi ended nearly flat.
