DUBAI / Reuters Profit-taking dragged stock markets in the Middle East down on Monday, with Egypt lagging after some quarterly earnings failed to inspire. Saudi Arabia’s index lost 1.1 percent to 6,969 points, heading back down towards technical support at the mid-February low of 6,942 points. A little under nine-tenths of traded shares declined and trading volume was above …

  Bloomberg Oil has been bound to the tightest price range in more than a decade, and yet hedge funds have never been so confident it will eventually rally. Money managers boosted their bets on rising West Texas Intermediate prices to a record on speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners will manage to ease a …

  Bloomberg Qatar Petroleum plans to merge two petrochemical units in its latest consolidation of businesses, as the world’s fourth-biggest oil and natural gas producer seeks to trim costs in its domestic operations and expand internationally. The state-run company will fold the operations of Qatar Vinyl Co., part of Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Co., into Qatar Petrochemical Co., a unit of …