Egypt's Ezz Steel plummeted to a 29-month low on Thursday after a court sentenced its former chairman to 10 years in jail on graft charges, while Gulf markets ended mixed in muted trade. The steel firm's stock plunged 8.9 percent to its lowest close since April 2009 the verdict. The index dropped 2.7 percent, also to its lowest close since April 2009.
"The biggest impact on the index today was the court verdict regarding Ahmed Ezz, owner of Ezz Steel, which in turn impacted all other stocks," said Hisham Metwally of Arab Finance Brokerage. "The political risk in Egypt is a big factor. People are afraid of weekly Friday demonstrations," said Metwally, referring to planned demonstrations on Friday September 16 to protest against the state's re-activation of emergency laws after protesters raided the Israeli embassy on Friday September 9.
In Oman, the index ended 0.4 percent higher, after a third day of gains. The benchmark has slumped about 15 percent this year, making it the worst performing Gulf market. United Finance led trading and gained 0.9 percent and heavyweight Bank Muscat climbed 0.7 percent. Renaissance Services, the second most active share, gained 1 percent.
The stock is recovering from a fall earlier this week after it said on Monday that it would be tough to recover $2.9 million lost in fraud at its marine unit Topaz. "Traders are still away from the market - I don't think they will come back until momentum in Europe and global markets changes," said Adel Nasr, United Securities brokerage manager.
"Next week will depend on Friday's performance in global equities, which we think will be swinging continuously. Investors are still very cautious." Elsewhere, Qatar National Bank gained 0.2 percent, Industries Qatar rose 2.6 percent and Qatar Telecom advanced 0.2 percent.
Financial firm Masraf Al Rayan climbed 1 percent, accounting for nearly one third of all shares exchanging hands. The index ended 0.3 percent higher, but down 3.8 percent for the year. Gainers outnumbered losers 10 to seven. "We like anything (stock) that is domestically focused. Although the economies are not growing, factors here continue to support growth especially in the domestic transport and logistics space," said Walid Shihabi, Shuaa Securities chief executive.
In Kuwait, the market slipped from Wednesday's six-week high. The index shed 0.1 percent in its second decline in the past 14 sessions. The market has been rising after the Eid holiday but concerns over new rules by Capital Markets Authority continue to plague sentiment. Logistics firm Agility lost 2.9 percent on profit-taking. Global Investment House bucked the trend, jumping 6.9 percent. It met creditors on Thursday to renegotiate a $1.7 billion restructuring from 2009. In Dubai, the index inched up 0.06 percent but Abu Dhabi's benchmark fell 0.1 percent to a three-week low.
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