Gulf Arab markets closed mixed on Thursday with Oman's Renaissance falling to a 16-week low after the company scrapped plans for a $500 million London listing of its marine unit, Topaz. Oman's index fell 1 percent to a four-week low as Renaissance Services dropped 3 percent.
"In the shorter term, Renaissance has reacted to the news of the delay in the Topaz IPO plans, but over the medium to longer term, it's still an attractive play," said Kanaga Sunder, Gulf Baader Capital Markets head of research. The company's organic growth plan is fully funded for 2011 and will look for an appropriate time to launch the IPO during the 12-month period authorised by shareholders, Renaissance chairman Samir Fancy said in a posting to the bourse.
Abu Dhabi heavyweight Emirates Telecommunications Corp fell 3.7 percent to a two-month low after pulling its Syria mobile licence bid. The operator weighed on the index, which slipped 1 percent. Neighbouring Dubai's index rose 0.9 percent to Sunday's five-week high, helped by blue chips.
Emaar Properties gained 2.9 percent, two days after the developer announced a surprise 10 percent cash dividend. The stock fell on Wednesday with investors saying 10 percent was below expectations. Lender Emirates NBD gained 0.3 percent, a rebound from early session losses, after it said further provisions for 2011 were likely.
"We've seen a nice run over the past 10 days or so," said Suleiman Aboulhosn, assistant fund manager at Al Masah Capital. Egypt's benchmark index traded 0.3 percent lower, snapping a four-day rally with investors booking profits. "It is normal that share prices fall after having risen so much," said Hashem Ghoneim of Pyramids Capital.
Commercial International Bank fell 0.4 percent and Egypt Kuwait Holding dropped 2.1 percent. Qatar's index hit a three-week high, taking the benchmark up 6.7 percent in March. Industries Qatar gained 0.4 percent and Qatar National Bank jumped 1.6 percent.
The index is widely expected to outperform regional bourses this year on economic growth outlooks. Qatar's GDP is forecast to grow 15.8 percent in 2011, according to a Reuters March poll. Kuwait's index rose 0.02 percent as investors boosted stock prices in the last minute trading ahead of the close of the first quarter.
Market activity was muted with volumes falling to a three-week low. "Today, foreigners are not so interested and volumes are very low," said a Kuwaiti trader who asked not to be identified. "There's not too much going on." Political rumours were rife before Kuwait's cabinet resigned on Thursday to avoid a grilling by parliament of three ministers, all members of the ruling al-Sabah family, amid calls for political and economic reform. Agility shed 1.3 percent in a second day of decline following a US court ruling on charges for defrauding military contracts.