Portfolios managers focus on strong H1 profits

Gulf markets registered considerable rises today, except Muscat and Bahrain, which fell 0.79% and 0.08% respectively.

The growth was led by the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), which rose 0.85%, followed by Doha, up 0.62%, the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) up 0.60%, the Kuwait Stock Exchange by 0.44% and Saudi market by 0.16%.

Trading value continued to be low in most stock markets, which was attributed to summer season with its usual decline.

UAE markets rise for second session

The UAE markets kept their upward trend for second session, after companies posted strong H1 results.

Emaar struggled to keep its price above Dhs10 and rose by 0.50% to Dhs10.05, while Deyaar registered a strong rise of 3.5% to Dhs2.06, after it posted a 200% increase for H1 profits, following a sharp decline after its recent financial scandal that saw its former chief executive detained for alleged embezzlement.

UAE Takaful's share, which rose 300% on its first day of listing, declined today by 5.3% to Dhs4.22, highlighting the strong speculation that surrounded the share saw on its first day.

In Abu Dhabi, First Gulf Bank traded Dhs234m out of total trading of Dhs990m, while Ittihad Insurance rose by 9.7% topping all rising shares list.

Saudi Arabia: negative results for leading companies

The Tadawul closed today up slightly, after fluctuating amid weak trading value of SR6.8bn.

Negative results from some leading companies impacted the index, including SEC, which posted loses of 97% in H1 to SR10m. Despite that, SEC's share rose by 2.1%.

Saptco, which fell by 1.9%, also posted SR54.5m loses in H1, compared to SR21.2m profits last year.

Emaar the Economic City declined today by 1.2%, following its H1 loses of SR95.7m, compared to SR9.3m loses last year.
The banking sector also declined today, except Saudi Hollandi Bank, which rose by 0.41%.

Samba fell by 1.2% after its H1 profits declined by 5%, while telecom sector shares saw the strong rise today, led by STC which jumped 5.7%, followed by Mobily, up 2.5% and Zain by 1.1%.

Kuwait: Strong results and acquisitions

The Kuwait Stock Exchange approached the 15,000 points mark after support from banking and services sectors, while the volume and value of trading also improved, reaching KD115.8m and 229 million shares.

Dubai First rose 12.3%, after the company announced that it will acquire a considerable stake in Water Front Co.

National Bank of Kuwait also rose, by 3.3% and KFH by 1.4%, while Bank of Kuwait and Middle East jumped by 8.3% following a 32% increase in H1 profits, which reached KD37.6m from KD28.5m.

Kuwait Projects Company share also rose by 1.8%, despite declining profits to KD58.5m, down from KD409.1m last year.

Doha: Mixed reactions to H1 results

Record profits from some leading shares pushed the Doha index upwards again, while trading value remained below QR500m, on 7.7 million traded shares. This included 3.1 million shares for Naqilat and United Development, which rose 1.5% and 2.9% respectively.

Al Makhazin's share fell 1.9%, despite the company posting a QR1.8m profit.

Amaal's share also fell by 3.2%, despite a 492% rise in H1 profits. Doha Bank's share rose by 0.50%, following its 25.3% increase in profits, which reached QR579.7m. Merrill Lynch set its fair price at QR99, but still the share closed at QR78.

Muscat and Bahrain: pressure from banks

Muscat's index fell for second consecutive day, after pressure from Muscat Bank and Oman National Bank, which fell by 1.1% and 4.1% respectively, while Omantel rose by 0.38%.

Trading value continued to decline on the market, reaching OR5.8m and 6.6 million shares, including 750,000 traded for Omantel.

Muscat Gas registered the highest rise in the market by 7.6%.

In Bahrain, the market fell slightly today, after pressure from banks. They all declined, except Al Salam Bank, which rose by 2.6% to BD0.275. Along with Gulf Commercial Bank, the two dominated 83.6% of trading, which reached 6.1 million shares and BD2.3m.