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Reuters
Stock markets in the Gulf most exposed to foreign trade held their ground on Tuesday, with Dubai and Qatar showing resilience in the face of disappointing results from blue-chip companies. In Dubai, shares of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications (Du) lost 3 percent after reporting a net profit of 364.9 million dirhams ($99.35 million) in the three months to March 31, down 24 percent from the prior year period. Analysts at SICO Bahrain forecast the telecommunication provider would make a net profit of 447.33 million dirhams and EFG Hermes estimated 474.02 million dirhams.
Shares of developer DAMAC Properties, which has not yet reported earnings, slumped 8.0 percent as they went ex-dividend on Tuesday. Shuaa Capital fell 0.6 percent, after its shares resumed trade following a press conference held earlier in the day.
The bourse, however gained 0.1 percent, taking its cue from the MSCI Emerging Market index, which some of the Dubai-listed shares are a constituent of, as the international benchmark traded near a one month high. Emaar Properties added 0.1 percent. Qatari Islamic lender Masraf Al Rayan, which traded in negative territory for most of the session, added 0.4 percent. The bank reported a 6.5 percent year-on-year fall in its first-quarter net profit to 510 million Qatar riyals ($140 million) and below the average of three analysts’ estimate of 517.1 million riyals.
In Abu Dhabi, the index rose 0.8 percent as Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank climbed 1.4 percent after it reported a 20% year-on-year growth in first quarter net profit to 577.5 million dirhams.