Gulf mostly soft early on but Dana Gas leaps on dividend plan

DUBAI: Stock exchanges in the Gulf were mostly soft in early trade on Sunday, reflecting losses in global equity markets at the end of last week, but there were signs of continued flows of foreign funds into some Saudi Arabian blue chips.

The Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock indexes were 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent down respectively, while the Qatari indexe lost 0.3 percent.

But Abu Dhabi-listed energy producer Dana Gas jumped 9.5 percent after the board said it would seek shareholder approval to pay a 2017 cash dividend of 5 percent of capital; it paid no dividend for 2016.

The decision came as Dana Gas continues to battle creditors in British and United Arab Emirates courts over its $700 million of outstanding sukuk, which Dana Gas refused to redeem last year on the grounds that changes in the interpretation of Islamic finance made them illegal and unenforceable under UAE law.

In Dubai, real estate firm Deyaar was the biggest gainer and the most heavily traded stock, rising 3.2 percent to 0.49 dirham as it bounced from major technical support on the November 2017 low of 0.470 dirham.

But another real estate company, Union Properties, was among the worst performers, shedding 1.1 percent. In a research note last week, equity research firm AlphaMena said the company's 2017 results were below its expectations and it revised down its 2018 and 2019 sales forecasts for the firm.

Egyptian investment bank Naeem Holding traded thinly on listing in Dubai; it was last at 2.41 dirhams, after trading in Cairo at the end of last week at $0.65, equivalent to 2.39 dirhams.

The Saudi index was the only one in the Gulf to gain, going up 0.2 percent in the first 55 minutes. Saudi Basic Industries, a petrochemical blue chip which has been attracting foreign money in anticipation of Riyadh's expected entry onto emerging market indexes, gained 0.7 percent and Al Rajhi Bank added the same margin.

National Agriculture Development (NADEC) was the best performer, up 6.0 percent, after it announced it had entered a definitive agreement to acquire dairy product and juice maker Al Safi Danone from two companies in a share swap. The deal will increase the number of shares in NADEC to 138.3 million from 84.7 million.