Gulf markets edge lower, UK sukuk ruling hits Dana Gas

DUBAI: Gulf stock markets edged lower in early trade on Sunday as Dana Gas shares sank in Abu Dhabi because of a British High Court ruling in the dispute over whether the company must repay $700 million of Islamic bonds.

The Abu Dhabi index was 0.1 percent lower as Dana sank 2.8 percent. A London High Court judge ruled that Dana's challenges to the purchase undertaking behind the bonds were "unfounded" and that the agreement was "valid and enforceable".

That was a victory for holders of the sukuk, but by no means the last legal move in the dispute. Dana said it would appeal the High Court ruling, and was also looking ahead to a hearing by a UAE court on whether the structure of the sukuk was valid. That hearing is scheduled for Dec. 25.

Dubai's index fell 0.3 percent as Emaar Properties  lost 1.0 percent. On Thursday, it priced the initial public offer of shares in its unit Emaar Development at 6.03 dirhams per share, in the lower half of an indicative range of 5.7-6.9 dirhams set earlier this month.

Courier firm Aramex dropped 3.6 percent to 4.55 dirhams, confirming a break below technical support at a September low of 4.75 dirhams. A double top formed by the March and July highs points down to around 4.20 dirhams.

In Saudi Arabia, the index slipped 0.2 percent as Al Tayyar Travel, whose founder has been detained in the kingdom's crackdown on corruption, sank a further 1.8 percent, bringing its losses since the crackdown was announced two weeks ago to 29 percent.

Construction company Al Khodari rose 2.8 percent after saying it had made a gross profit of 13.9 million riyals ($3.7 million) by auctioning off plant and machinery, and would reflect that profit in its fourth-quarter earnings.