Oil price weighs on Araban Gulf equities trading

Arabian Gulf bourses were barely changed on Monday, rebounding only slightly following sharp falls on Sunday, as oil prices remained subdued.

Brent crude futures stabilised on Monday but failed to break through the US$50 a barrel mark by early afternoon, even as analysts expressed faith in market fundamentals.

“Sentiment on the oil market is meanwhile worse than the fundamental situation,” said analysts at Commerzbank in a research note. “Stocks are now falling, and the Saudi Arabian energy minister has spoken out in favour of extending the Opec production cuts, which is likely to see the market balance tighten noticeably in the second half of the year as demand picks up.”

Such opinions failed to tempt investors back into regional equities. Bloomberg’s GCC 200, which suffered its worst one-day performance of 2017 on Sunday, dropping 1.0 per cent, on Monday rebounded by just 0.2 per cent.

Kuwaiti stocks led regional gains, closing up 1 per cent on gains by Zain and NBK.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index rose by 0.2 per cent to 3,391.67, thanks to minor gains by Emaar Properties and DIB. Arabtec Holding shares, which fell to their lowest level since 2011 on Sunday, retreated in early trading before recovering to end the day up 0.7 per cent at 76 fils.

Shares in Air Arabia closed unchanged at Dh1.03, the day after the UAE’s only publicly listed airline announced a surprise fourth-quarter loss.

Abu Dhabi stocks closed up 0.2 per cent at 4,578.22, thanks to gains by Etisalat and ADCB. Shares in RAK Ceramics were unchanged at Dh2.43 after the company reported a 5 per cent drop in first-quarter profits.

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