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Mixed performances on Gulf exchanges
Gulf indices posted mixed performances on Sunday, as a bribery scandal at mortgage lender Tamweel rattled Emirati investors, while the Saudi Arabian bourse began to name investors with a company shareholding of over five percent.
Qatar's bourse eased for a second session on Sunday as investors judged the market was still too expensive relative to dividend yields and earnings expectations compared to the rest of the Gulf.
Dubai stocks fell for a seventh time in eight days as investors continued to sell shares of Tamweel after last week’s news that two of its former executives are under investigation by the authorities.
Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel) extended a rally among Omani blue chips. Investors bought into the stock as a planned sale of the government’s 25 percent stake in the firm edge closer.
Abu Dhabi real estate and banking stocks weighed on the UAE capital’s index, while Kuwait closed higher powered by Ahli United Bank.
Saudi Arabia posted marginal gains a day after introducing new regulations naming investors with stakes of 5 percent or more. Bahrain ended lower.
"Even with the declines we have experienced, we are still overvalued in terms of price to earnings ratios (P/E) and dividend yields," said Amro Motasim, chief trader at Qatar's Ahli Bank.
Doha closed 0.79 percent higher at 10,932.43 points.
Average price-earnings ratio in the Gulf Arab region is about 14 to 15 as of Thursday's close, while Doha is trading at about 18, said Motasim.
Dividend yields are averaging 2.72 across the region with Doha at about 1.64.
Qatar Gas Transport Co and Qatar Islamic Bank closed 1.19 percent and 1.2 percent lower respectively.
In Dubai, shares of Tamweel plunged 4.09 percent as investors dumped the stock after news of the probe. The stock has already fallen more than 20 percent this month.
"Tamweel is suffering simply because of that ... with negative sentiment prevailing, confidence is low and risk tolerance becomes lower," said Mohamed Alami at Naeem Shares & Bonds. "Share allocations will be to those stocks that are solid in fundamentals and good news."
Dubai's index, down 15.41 percent to Thursday's close, shed 0.57 percent to 4,988.82 points.
Oman's main index closed higher for the fourth day in a row, jumping 1.3 percent to 10,431.69 points.
"I feel the pension funds are very bullish on the market and the corrections have created new opportunities," said Adel Nasr local brokerage manager at United Securities. "There are new accumulations on Bank Muscat, Oman Telecommunications Co and Galfar Engineering."
Bank Muscat ended 3.19 percent higher and Galfar ended 2.41 percent up.
Omantel rose 2.88 percent to 2.060 rials on rumours the government may sell its stake in the operator at 3 rials a share.
Saudi Arabia's index closed higher for a fifth consecutive session.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp and Samba Financial Group rose 0.42 percent and 0.76 percent respectively.
The benchmark ended 0.31 percent up at 8,357.23 points.
On Saturday new regulations naming investors holding stakes of five percent or more were introduced.
Kuwait climbed 0.15 percent to 14,638.40 points. The index is up almost 17 percent this year. Ahli United rose 3.28 percent and Burgan Bank closed 1.04 percent higher.
The Abu Dhabi index, almost flat this year, edged 0.02 percent lower to 4,533.83 points. First Gulf Bank fell 1.1 percent and Sorouh Real Estate slipped 1.37 percent.
The Bahraini index fell 0.36 percent to 2,739.5 points. Ithmaar Bank and Gulf Finance House fell 2.78 percent and 1.69 percent respectively.
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