Bourses in the Gulf edged lower on Tuesday after oil prices pulled back overnight and Asian shares weakened.
Brent oil futures were trading at US$44.11 a barrel, near two-week lows, although they stabilised in early Asian trade on Tuesday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was near one-month lows.
Petrochemical shares were the main drag on the Saudi Arabian stock index with bellwether Saudi Basic Industries dropping 1.2 per cent. The index fell 0.5 per cent.
But Saudi Airlines Catering added 0.5 per cent after it announced on Monday that it had renewed its contract with Oman Air. The three-year contract would have a total value of 35 million Saudi riyals and will be reflected in third-quarter results, the company said.
First quarter 2016 revenue was 559.2m riyals.
Earnings at real estate firms have been mixed in the United Arab Emirates but the latest to report, Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties, posted results ahead of analysts’ expectations.
The state-linked builder of Abu Dhabi’s Formula One circuit reported a 14.1 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit to Dh649 million. Analysts at SICO Bahrain forecasted Aldar to make Dh453.6m.
However, the stock slipped 0.8 per cent.
Other shares in the sector were also weak with RAK Properties, which reported a 24 per cent rise in quarterly net profit last week, dropping 1.9 per cent. The general Abu Dhabi index was down 0.3 per cent.
Dubai’s index slipped 0.5 per cent as investors sold builders Drake & Scull and Arabtec, which have not yet reported first-quarter earnings. Their stocks were down 1.8 and 0.7 per cent respectively.
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