Region mixed; Dubai tests chart barrier

Bloomberg

Stock markets in the Gulf were mixed on Sunday with the global uptrend in equities pushing Dubai’s index up to test technical resistance but weak corporate earnings hurting Oman.
The Dubai index gained 1.0 percent in modest trading volume to close on its April peak of 3,573 points. Eight of the 10 most heavily traded stocks rose, with the most active, Union Properties, edging up 0.3 percent.
Abu Dhabi added 0.2 percent as Ajman Bank gained 2.6 percent despite reporting a moderate fall in second-quarter net profit. Its operating income actually rose slightly. The Saudi index climbed 0.5 percent in a broad-based rally. Banque Saudi Fransi added 1.4 percent and a few second- and third-tier stocks surged in unusually heavy trade; Saudi Printing and Packaging soared 8.5 percent.
Qatar’s index fell 1.3 percent with Qatar National Bank, the biggest lender, falling by the same margin. The bank had surged 4.2 percent on Thursday after it reported a 3.6 percent increase in its second-quarter profits earlier in the week. Exchange data showed foreign investors’ buying and selling of Qatari stocks roughly balanced on Sunday while non-Qatari Gulf investors were almost inactive, though they were sellers on a net basis. Some Gulf funds fear sanctions imposed by neighbouring Arab states could eventually force them to pull out of the country entirely. Oman dropped 1.1 percent as a string of weak earnings showed the strain that low oil prices and government austerity measures have placed on the economy. Raysut Cement slipped 0.8 percent after reporting that first-half net profit shrank by nearly two-thirds from a year earlier, with turnover also dropping.
Oman Telecommunications sank 3.3 percent after reporting a 39 percent fall in first-half profit, with revenue stagnant. Bank Dhofar lost 3.2 percent after first-half consolidated net profit shrank
13 percent, and National Gas plunged 8.0 percent in very thin trade after it said first-half profit more than halved.