Emaar defies expectations to rise

Analysts were expecting Emaar to lead DFM index to a sharp decline after the company announced yesterday a drop in Q3 profit by 3.8% to
reach Dhs1.5bn, while its operational profits rose by 15% to Dhs4.8bn after writing off Dhs750m from its US unit John Homes Laing.

Investments portfolio managers believed that Emaar profit are good enough in the light of the current economic crisis, and predict that Emaar will start buying its own shares after announcing the profit.

UAE shares yesterday collected a total of Dhs13.6bn besides Dhs9bn the day before after DFM rose by 3% and ADX 2.1%.

Tadawul also kept its rising trend for the second consecutive day ending up 1.4%, Muscat rose by 1% and Doha by 0.43%, while KSE continued to fall after giving up its 10.900 benchmark, declining by
3.3%, while Bahrain fell too by less than 0.50%.

Dubai: Emaar unexpectedly jumps

The unexpected rise of Emaar encouraged traders at DFM to begin buying operations amid relatively fair value near Dhs1bn, pushing most shares to rise except Emirates NBD which fell by 0.85% to Dhs6.94.

During trading, Emaar was traded above Dhs6 before closing lower after profit gaining.

Other leading shares rose too including Air Arabia by 6.4%, Du by 6%, and Arabtec and Gulf Shipping 4.3% each.

Abu Dhabi: ADIB profits up 52.5%

Banking and energy shares continued to support the ADX index which rose above 3.500 points, with most shares up by 10% like Gulf First Bank, Union National Bank and Sharjah Bank.

The share of Abu Dhabi Islamic bank rose by 7% after the bank announced a 52.5% rise in profits for the first nine months of the year at Dhs736.7m.

Aldar and Sorouh rose by 2% each crossing Dhs6 and Dhs5 respectively.

Saudi Arabia rises up after a decline

Saudi market witnessed fluctuations but the index managed to stay
above the 6.300 after support from Sabic which rose by 1.4% to SR88.

Sabic, Inmaa and Safco dominated 47.4% of the total SR7.1bn trading of the day.

Safco fell by 6.6% despite posting the highest profit in its history.

Marine Transportation shares rose by 10% after the company announced a 95% rise in profits, while insurance shares including Walaa, United
Gulf, and United Commercial rose by maximum limit.

Banks, meanwhile witnessed mixed results with Al Rajhi up 2%, Inmaa 2.6%, Samba fell by 2.8%.

All telecom shares rose, led by STC 5.4%, Zain 3.4% and Mobily 1% after its general assembly approved a 40% rise in capital by issuing
bonus shares without issuance fees.

Kuwait: Kuwait Industries mulls canceling raising capital

Kuwait Stock Exchange gave up its 11.000 benchmark after declining sharply for the seventh consecutive session forcing Kuwait National
Industries to cancel its decision to raise its capital by 25% through an IPO.

Kuwait Industries shares fell sharply by 6.5% at KD0.720, which is less than the price set by the company for its IPO.

Meanwhile, Zain registered another decline yesterday to KD1.200 after rumours that Al Khurafi Group will decrease its stake in Zain to 9.9% from 12.45%.

Muscat: Omantel supports the market

Omantel share has led Muscat market up and, along with Muscat bank, dominated 46.3% from the total OR6.9m and 10.3 million shares.

Omantel rose by 2.2% to OR1.920, Muscat bank 1.8%, Al Jazirah 2.5% and Al Hassan Engineering 1.3% after the company announced that it is not
influenced by the world financial crisis.

Doha: More firms post profits

Doha rose by 0.50% approaching the 8.000 benchmark after many firms announced record profits for Q3, pushing the index up.

Some companies which posted higher profits fell yesterday, while some other companies which posted less profit rose in the market.

QIIB fell by 0.50% despite a 43% increase in profits, Ahli Bank fell by 4.4% despite a 30% rise in profits, while Al Makhazin rose by 3.8%
despite posting 14% losses in profits.

Bahrain: Bank of Kuwait and Bahrain profit declines

Bank of Kuwait and Bahrain posted losses of 21% leading Bahrain index to decline by 0.50% amid low trading value which hardly reached BD0.5m
and 1.4 million share.

Bank of Kuwait and Bahrain fell by 6.1% after announcing 21.1% decline in profit and after the bank took away reserve assets of BD16.6m.

Meanwhile Bahrain Islamic bank rose by 2.2%, Al Salam 1.7% and Batelco 0.32%.