Gulf mostly higher, dividend chase boosts Qatar most

DUBAI: Gulf stock markets were mostly firm in early trade on Monday with Qatar outperforming for a second day as investors bought to secure dividends.

The Qatari stock index gained 1.1 percent as Islamic bank Masraf Al Rayan added 1.9 percent and Qatari Investors Group surged 7.1 percent.

Qatari companies, which traditionally pay high dividend yields, are due to announce fourth-quarter or annual dividends in the next few weeks, and yields may be boosted this year by the fact that stock prices have been pushed lower by the economic embargo imposed by four Arab states on Qatar.

In Saudi Arabia, the index edged up 0.2 percent as consumer electronics retailer United Electronics Co gained 3.0 percent after saying estimated fourth-quarter net profit climbed to 57.6 million riyals ($15.4 million) from ??26.3 million riyals a year ago, as sales rose to 1.61 billion riyals from 1.39 billion riyals.

Car hire company Budget Saudi rose 2.5 percent. The stock has soared 10.5 percent in the last four trading days, partly in anticipation of Saudi women being allowed to drive later this year.

The Dubai index was only marginally higher but builder Drake & Scull, the most heavily traded stock, gained 1.7 percent after saying it had completed restructuring its corporate bank debt and had secured new credit lines and working capital facilities for its projects.

GFH Financial fell 0.6 percent after saying major shareholder Integrated Capital had reduced its shareholding to 6.72 percent from 8.01 percent. It did not give a reason. Integrated Capital is owned by Shuaa Capital, an affiliate of Abu Dhabi Financial Group.

However, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the shares had been bought by the Goldilocks fund, which is managed by a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Financial Group, so the group was essentially changing the way it held the shares rather than bailing out of GFH.