Egyptian Stocks Lead Losses Across Mideast, North Africa

(Bloomberg) -- Egypt’s main stock index posted the steepest drop among major gauges in the Middle East and North Africa as large caps announced earnings across the region. In Saudi Arabia, lenders including Al Rajhi Bank and National Commercial Bank were among the biggest contributors to the Tadawul’s decline.

MIDDLE EASTERN MARKETS:

• Egypt’s EGX 30 falls 1.2%, trimming its gain this month to 2.4%
  • Lender CIB falls 1.9%, contributes the most to index loss on a weighted basis
    • Eastern Tobacco -2.5%; Talaat Moustafa Group -1.7%
  • Some 3Q earnings in Egypt “were negatively affected in part by the subsidy cuts that took place” in June and July, Amr Elalfy, head of research at Shuaa Securities in Cairo, writes in a report
    • “Going forward, out of the remaining 16 companies to report, investors will await results from 6 large caps with heavy weights in the EGX 30, namely Talaat Moustafa Group, EFG-Hermes, ElSewedy Electric, Telecom Egypt, Ezz Steel and Qalaa Holdings”
• Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index falls 0.4%. The gauge has retreated almost every day this month
  • Al Rajhi Bank declines 0.2%, extending losing streak to a sixth day, the longest since August; Saudi Industrial Investment Group -4%; Jabal Omar -2%; NCB -0.6%
  • Saudi Real Estate drops 4.4% after a 41% plunge in 3Q net income
  • Saudi Electricity Co. rises 0.7% even after posting a 6.4% decline in 3Q net income due to higher debt burden and lower operational revenue
  • Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance Co. climbs 2.3% after posting a 13% jump in 3Q profit due to an increase in investments and other income and a decline in operating expenses
  • Foreign ownership of Saudi lenders is still below the average for peers in the U.A.E. and Qatar, which provides room for such stocks to outperform in the long term, according to Mohamad Al Hajj, a strategist at the research arm of EFG-Hermes Holding SAE in Dubai, says in an interview with Bloomberg Television
  • READ: Surging Saudi Exporter Seeking to Restore Deal With Aramco
• Dubai’s DFM General Index and Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index decline 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively
  • Emaar Properties loses 0.8% in Dubai; First Abu Dhabi Bank slides 0.6%
• Qatar’s QE Index rises 0.2%, after climbing 0.9% last week
  • Qatar Fuel gains 2.5%, contributing the most to the index increase
  • Qatar Shares Still Offer Upside After Recent Gain: Amwal’s Jamal
  • EFG-Hermes Adds Qatar Islamic Bank to Its List of Sell Ideas
• Oman’s MSM 30 Index rises 0.3%, extending its advance to a fourth day
  • Omantel climbs 2.9% after reporting nine-month net income of 184.3m rials, more than double the same period last year
    • Result include fully consolidated Zain Group results, in which Omantel bought a stake last year
• Stock gauges in Kuwait and Bahrain were little changed
• MORE: U.S. to Stop Refueling Saudi Planes as Pressure Rises Over Yemen

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To contact the reporter on this story: Filipe Pacheco in Dubai at fpacheco4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Tom Lavell

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