DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s stock market fell for a second consecutive session on Sunday, under pressure from lower banking and petrochem shares, while Qatar rebounded after falling more than 2% in the previous session.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index dropped 0.8%, extending Thursday’s losses, with Saudi National Bank down 2.6% and oil behemoth Saudi Aramco down 1.4%.
Aramco, on a par with Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company, last week reported a net income of $39.5 billion for the quarter to March 31, up from $21.7 billion a year earlier.
Kingdom Holding jumped 9.9%, its biggest daily gain since early June last year, after Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal signed an agreement with sovereign wealth fund PIF to sell 16.87% of his investment in the firm for a total of 5.68 billion riyals ($1.51 billion).
Qatar’s index, edged up 0.1%, finding some support from financials and energy stocks after dropping more than 2% on Thursday.
Islamic lender Masraf al Rayan added 1.7% while Qatar Gas Transport Nakilat rose 2.7%.
Germany and Qatar on Friday signed a declaration to deepen their energy partnership, with a focus on trade in hydrogen and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as Europe’s biggest economy looks for alternative supplies amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index ended 0.8% lower as the country’s largest lender, Commercial International Bank,, fell 0.7% and Abu Qir Fertilizers was down 2.3%.
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