JEDDAH – Bargain hunters lifted Saudi Arabia's bourse from an 11-week low Monday despite lingering earnings concerns, and most other Gulf markets also gained, with the stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index raising 0.92 percent to close at 6,723.21 points. Heavyweight Al Rajhi Bank was one of the top gainers, rising 1.5 percent and trimming October's declines to 3.1 percent. The bank reported a third-quarter net profit decline of 3.5 percent, missing estimates. The stock witnessed heavy selling pressure in recent sessions on talks a major shareholder will sell its stake. Analysts said the weak earnings were priced into the stock. “Rajhi's declining movement for the last two weeks priced in the results, that's why we're not seeing lower price today,” said Faisal Al-Othman, portfolio manager at Riyadh-based Arab National Bank. Other banks, which also declined recently on earnings that missed estimates, were up. Samba Financial Group climbed 1.8 percent and Banque Saudi Fransi gained 0.7 percent. Telcom operators rally with Saudi Telecom Co and Mobily rose 2.8 and 1.1 percent respectively. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. gained 0.3 percent. Investors concerns lingered on third-quarter earnings from Sabic and telecom operators, which will be key for further direction for the market. Elsewhere, Dubai's bluechips helped lift the measure for a third day in five as investors awaited earnings, with the index gaining 0.6 percent to 1,636 points, up 13.8 percent since June 3's four-month low. Abu Dhabi index ticked up 0.08 percent to 2,644 points. “The markets in UAE remain to be in an uptrend and have been resilient to the drops we've been in seeing in Saudi,” said Nabil Al Rantisi, managing director at Menacorp in Abu Dhabi. “We are in a resting mode at the moment as investors are waiting for the Q3 results to be out. If the results beat the expectations the current rally is likely to continue to higher levels,” he added. Qatar's index climbed 0.4 percent to its highest close since Oct. 3 to 8,523 points, as earnings boosted sentiment. Industries Qatar gained 1.7 percent, up for a second session since reporting a 23.7 percent jump in quarterly profit. Kuwait measure climbed 0.2 percent to 5,997 points, while Oman index gained 0.5 percent to 5,663 points. However, Bahrain measure slipped 0.3 percent to 1,067 points. “Although petrochemical prices are estimated to have remained lower in 3Q12, we believe prices of fertilizer would have given the required impetus to the growth in net income,” Hettish Karmani, senior financial analyst at Global Investment House said in a note. – SG/Reuters
