Gulf stocks move little after oil slump

DUBAI: Stock markets in the Gulf moved little in thin trade on Sunday morning after oil prices slid almost 3 percent on Friday and as investors awaited second quarter results.

The Riyadh index was flat after 40 minutes of trade as 97 shares rose and 44 declined.

The petrochemical sector was mixed with shares of polypropylene maker Advanced Petrochemical falling 0.8 percent after reporting a 1 percent increase in second-quarter net profit from the prior year period to 194 million riyals  ($51.73 million). NCB Capital had predicted Advanced to make a net profit of 133 million riyals.

Shares of Yanbu National Petrochemical were up 0.6 percent.

Dubai's index was down 0.1 percent as 10 shares declined and 13 shares rose.  Large-cap developer DAMAC Properties lost 1.8 percent and theme park operator DXB Entertainments fell 0.9 percent.

In neighbouring Abu Dhabi, the index edged down 0.2 percent, weighed down by a 2.9 percent decline in shares of natural gas explorer Dana Gas.

On Thursday Dana fell 1.4 percent after sources told Reuters that London's High Court planned to hold a full hearing in September on efforts by the company to restructure $700 million of its Islamic bonds.

In Qatar, the index barely moved as seven of the 19 blue chips rose and eight declined. Oil drilling service provider Gulf International Services was up 1.3 percent while liquefied natural gas transporter Qatar Gas Transport was down 0.8 percent.