Egyptian stocks rebounded on Monday on a report of $1 billion US debt relief for Egypt while Gulf markets were mixed after being hit by an oil-price drop. Egypt's main rose after three days of decline following a Washington Post report that the aid would be part of a major package that would also include trade and investment incentives.
"This is very good. It would eliminate the possibility that Egypt won't be able to meet it debt repayments," said Nader Khedr, an investment and capital market analyst. Private equity firm Citadel Capital jumped 4.2 percent, partly on optimism that a recent Egyptian delegation to Nile basin countries might help smoothe out Egypt's sometimes rocky relations with its southern neighbours.
"The Egyptian government has been trying to improve its relations with Africa, where Citadel is a big investor," said Hisham Metwally of Arab Finance Brokerage. Qatar's index climbed 1 percent after falling in five of the past six sessions, as stocks aligned with upbeat economic forecasts. "Most stocks in the market will feel the positive impact from the growth of the country," said Robert Pramberger, from Doha-based the First Investor.
"I would expect a gradual improvement of the stock prices going forward. The sectors that will benefit are banks and infrastructure," he added. Heavyweights Industries Qatar and Qatar Telecom climbed 1.2 and 1.3 percent respectively. Barwa Real Estate jumped 2.9 percent.
Saudi Arabia's index rebounded from its oil-driven decline and recovered almost all of Saturday's losses. "The market will continue to be volatile in the coming week, given that oil could be volatile as well as the dollar," said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi. Oil rebounded by more than $4 on Monday, helped by a weaker dollar as the euro strengthened after Brent crude lost almost $17 last week. Heavyweights Saudi Basic Industries Corp and Al-Rajhi Bank gained 0.9 and 0.7 percent respectively.
"Petrochemicals still have room for upside because they are cyclical," Sfakianakis said. "We might also see a bit of upside to cement stocks because of their relation to the construction growth story."
The Saudi index added 0.8 percent but is down 0.6 percent in May. Dubai Financial Market led the index to a four-week low after reporting a 96-percent drop in earnings. Developer Emaar Properties fell 0.3 percent. "Even though in some sectors things are improving, like hospitality, some others, like real estate, are still suffering a lot," said Sebastien Henin from TNI National Investment.
Dubai fell 0.2 percent to its lowest close since April 11. Abu Dhabi's index also closed at a four-week low, down 0.4 percent as blue chips tumbled. Aldar Properties was the most actively traded stock, dropped 3.2 percent, while competitor Sorouh Real Estate shed 1.4 percent. Dana Gas closed 1.5 percent lower.
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