Dubai's index snapped a three-day losing streak as courier Aramex surged after an analyst upgrade on Wednesday, while petrochemichals rallied in Saudi Arabia on quarterly earnings. Aramex jumped 6.2 percent, its biggest gain in four weeks. The firm's geographical diversification will help it grow earnings modestly in 2011 despite regional turmoil, brokerage AlembicHC said, upgrading the stock to overweight from neutral.
Air Arabia edged up 0.4 percent, easing away from Tuesday's all-time low. DP World gained 1.9 percent to a 10-week high after the port operator said it would ask shareholders to approve a one-for-20 reverse stock split. Saudi Arabia's index rose 0.4 percent higher, edging towards Saturday's seven-week high, as petrochemical and property stocks helped lift market sentiment.
Among petrochemical stocks, Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) and Saudi Arabian Fertilisers Co climbed 0.5 and 0.4 percent respectively. But Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co fell 2.5 percent after the company said on Tuesday it will shut its refinery and petrochemical complex on April 21 for nearly two months of planned maintenance.
"Maintenance can affect revenues," said Hesham Tuffaha, Bakheet Investment Group head of asset management. He expects a decline in first-quarter revenues compares to previous quarter." Chemanol gained 1.4 percent after posting first-quarter earnings increase of 141 percent and a 63 percent rise in operating profit compared to a year ago, according to a statement on the bourse website.
"Chemanol's results were operationally in line, but higher at the net level relative to our estimates owing to a lower-than-expected finance charge," a Nomura note said. The real estate index added 0.6 percent, with broad gains. Saudi Real Estate gained 0.7 percent.
The king's $93 billion social spending plan has driven confidence in the property sector but a positive impact on companies will only be felt later this year, he said. Egypt's main index climbed 0.1 percent, led by El Sewedy Electric after the cable maker said 2010 net income jumped 29.5 percent. Sewedy rose 5.9 percent.
"All stocks, including Sewedy, are trading quite cheaply," said Hashem Ghoneim of Pyramids Capital. Ghoneim said he expected shares to trade sideways for the rest of the week as investors consolidate positions after the market's strong performance last week.
Qatar's index climbed 1.1 percent to a three-week high in its fourth gain in five sessions. Industries Qatar rose 1.2 percent. Gainers led losers three to one. Oman's measure fell 0.3 percent, weighed down by blue chips. Bank Muscat and Bank Dhofar shed 0.8 percent and 3.3 percent respectively.
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