Abu Dhabi shares gained the most in
three months on investor speculation declines yesterday triggered by the unrest
in Egypt were overdone given prospects for earnings growth. Saudi Arabian stock
retreated.
Emirates Telecommunications Corp.
rose the most since October after its Egyptian unit resumed services and as an
offer for Zain Saudi Arabia may help it buy a controlling stake in Kuwait’s
Zain. National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah PSC surged to the highest since 2005 as
full-year profit rose 38 percent.
The ADX General Index increased 1
percent, the most since October 19, to 2,586.75 at the 2 pm close in Abu Dhabi.
The measure slumped the most since November 2009 yesterday. Saudi Arabia’s
Tadawul All Share Index dropped 1.1 percent at 2:19 pm in Riyadh.
“Markets in the Gulf Cooperation
Council are seeing a strong rebound as smart money is picking up names that are
unaffected by the geo-politics of North Africa,” said Omair Ansari, equity
strategist at Dubai-based Gulfmena Alternative Investments. “Earnings for the
majority of the companies in the GCC are insulated to within the region, thus
yesterday’s selloff was unjustified.”
The 64 companies on Abu Dhabi’s
index are valued at an average of 7.9 times estimated earnings, according to
data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with 11.5 times for the Bloomberg GCC
200 Index of stocks in the region.
Dana Gas, the fuel producer with
most of its output coming from Egypt, said yesterday its unit in the North
African country is “continuing with routine operations.” The company on Monday
said profit rose 80 percent. The shares earlier gained as much as 4.7 percent
before closing unchanged at 64 fils.
Egypt’s stock market and banks
stayed shut as protesters demanded the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak
amid clashes that left as many as 150 people dead. Egyptian opposition leaders
rallied yesterday around Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the United
Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency, as protesters defied a curfew and
demonstrated against Mubarak for a sixth day.
Global stocks fell, with the MSCI
Emerging Markets Index dropping 0.8 percent to the lowest in a month, on
speculation Egypt’s crisis will slow the global recovery. Oil prices jumped
above $90 a barrel and last traded at $89.52.
Etisalat, the biggest phone company
in the country, climbed 2.5 percent, the most since Oct. 19, to 10.40 dirhams.
Kingdom Holding Co., an investment firm controlled by Saudi billionaire Prince
Alwaleed Bin Talal, made a non-binding offer to buy Zain’s stake in Mobile Telecommunications
Co. Saudi Arabia, or Zain Saudi Arabia.
Etisalat, which is in talks to buy a
majority stake in Kuwait’s Zain, has said Zain needs to sell its 25 percent
stake in Zain Saudi Arabia in a “timely fashion” for the deal to move forward.
Zain gained 2.8 percent, the most since Dec. 15, to 1,460 fils in Kuwait
trading. Zain Saudi rose 2 percent to 7.55 riyals.
National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah, the
United Arab Emirates- based lender, soared 7.6 percent to AED5.7, the highest
since November 2005, as one trade was made, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. Net income advanced to AED1bn ($273m) from AED726.1m a year earlier.
The DFM General Index retreated 0.6
percent after earlier gaining as much as 1.2 percent. Qatar’s QE Index climbed
0.4 percent, Kuwait’s SE Price Index rose 0.6 percent and Oman’s MSM30
increased 1.6 percent. Bahrain’s BB All Share Index fell 0.2 percent.
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