Sabic's profit has no impact on Tadawul

The record profits posted by many companies failed to drive the market up, while traders kept a close eye on the movement of the international markets.

The CEO of Shuaa Capital, which posted losses of Dhs371.1m, said that local markets should stop looking to international markets and focus instead on the strength of regional economies and the positive results of the companies.

Dubai: Emaar up before announcing results

Dubai Financial Market reversed its movement after the positive rebound of Emaar from Dhs5.41 up 0.72% to Dhs5.56.

Emaar announced its results after the trading session, going up 15% in the first nine months of the year to reach Dhs5.5bn while its Q3 profit fell by 3% to Dhs1.3bn after its affiliated US firm John Laing Homes lost Dhs750m of its value, which left negative impact on the net profit of Emaar.

A total of 16 listed firms rose against 11 which declined, including Shuaa Capital by 10% before closing down 8.5% at Dhs2.91 after the company announced losses of Dhs371m because of the decline of its assets.

Shuaa losses also included Dhs78.6m in financial securities with fixed returns with Lehman Brothers and Dhs45.8m as investments in Orion Holding Company.

Abu Dhabi sees strong rise for banking and telecom shares

Abu Dhabi saw a strong rise after witnessing buying operations on banking and telecom shares which pushed the ADX up, while Aldar Properties shares fell further, going down by 1.1% to Dhs5.75.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank which registered a decline of 10% in the last session rose yesterday by 8.3% to Dhs3.15 after external intervention.

NBAD also rose by 6% to Dhs12.75, First Gulf Bank 8% to Dhs11.70, Etisalat 3.7% to Dhs15.45 after the company announced a 19% rise in Q3 profit to reach Dhs2.1bn.

Saudi Arabia: Negative impact on Sabic profit

Heavyweight Sabic, whose profit fell by 2% in Q3 to reach SR7.3bn despite rising by 8% for the total nine months of 2008 left a negative impact on the index.

Sabic failed to keep its upward trend which reached SR98 after witnessing extensive selling pushing it down by 8.6% to SR86.75 with a total trading of SR1.4bn representing 25% of the total trading which reached SR5.3bn.

The decline of Sabic left a negative impact on other petrochemical firms including Petrorabigh which fell by 9.1% and Yansab 4% which announced that its total losses for the first nine months reached SR18m compared to SR22.3m last year.

Kayan closed unchanged despite posting higher profits at SR179.9m.

Kuwait down following lower profits by listed firms

Kuwait stock exchange remained down with some shares down by the maximum limit, including Zain.

KSE index fell after negative results by listed firms including Kuwait's Projects which posted KD83.5m compared to KD452.1m last year.

United Industries Company posted losses of KD200,000 compared to KD2.9m profits last year.

Other leading shares also declined including KFH 0.91% and Global 7.4%.

Doha market up on higher profits

The record profits announced by some companies pushed the index up above the 7.900 points near the 8.000 benchmark.

Al Ryyan and Naqilat dominated 42% of the total traded shares.
Gulf Insurance rose by 5% to QR55.80 after posting 94% rise in profits, while Naqilat's profits rose by 78.3% to QR157.5m compared to QR88.3m last year.

Islamic Insurance Company profits also rose by 82% to QR57.4m but it still fell by 0.39%.

Ahli United Bank leads Bahrain index up

AUB rose up by 7% pushing Bahrain index to rise by less than 0.50% amid weak trading value of BD268.000 and less than one million shares, of which 415,000 for Ithmaar.

Other leading shares declined including GFH by 5.1%, Al Salam Bank 2.7% and Al Khaleeji Bank by 2.2%.

Muscat bank pushes market slightly down

Muscat bank led Muscat market to decline slightly yesterday while strong rises of banks and telecom shares failed to lower market losses.

Muscat market traded OR6.5m including 1.3 million shares for Muscat bank which fell by 3.1% to OR0.970, while Omantel rose by 3%, Bank Sohar 1.5%, Ahli Bank 3% while Resot Cement fell by 6% despite posting a 26.1% rise in Q3 profits.