JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia stocks were lower after the close on Sunday, as losses in the Transport, Telecoms & IT and Hotels & Tourism sectors led shares lower, with the stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index losing 0.76%.The best performers of the session on the Tadawul All Share were Al Alamiya Cooperative Insurance, which rose 5.62% or 3.39 points to trade at 63.75 at the close. Meanwhile, The Mediterranean & Gulf Insurance Co added 4.43% or 1.90 points to end at 44.80 and United Cooperative Assurance Co was up 2.56% or 0.41 points to 16.45 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Saudi Telecom, which fell 2.77% or 2.02 points to trade at 71.00 at the close. Banque Saudi Fransi declined 2.62% or 0.94 points to end at 34.90 and National Agriculture Development Co was down 2.53% or 0.94 points to 36.20.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Saudi Arabia Stock Exchange by 121 to 44.
Crude oil for September delivery was down 0.82% or 0.40 to $48.05 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in September fell 1.17% or 0.65 to hit $54.62 a barrel, while the August Gold contract unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to trade at $1086.00 a troy ounce. The US Dollar Index was up 0.06% at 97.34.
Elsewhere, Dubai stocks retreated, leading equity markets lower across the Gulf, after oil dropped to the lowest in four-months and some investors sought to benefit from the DFM General Index's rally last week.
The benchmark gauge dropped 1.3 percent, the most in almost three weeks, to 4,147.63 at the close. Emirates NBD PJSC, the United Arab Emirates' second-biggest lender by assets, slid the most in five weeks. Emaar Properties PJSC, the developer of the world's tallest tower, lost the most since July 8.
The drop is “a combination of profit taking after a good start to the earnings season and investors pricing in the impact of Iran's nuclear deal on oil prices in the short term,” Sanyalak Manibhandu, the head of research at NBAD Securities LLC in Abu Dhabi, said by phone. “If oil were to go another $5 lower, we could see another mini-scare in equities.”Brent crude fell to a four-month low on Friday on signs the global surplus will grow following Iran's agreement to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for lifting of economic sanctions. Dubai stocks rallied the most since April last week after companies reported better than estimated quarterly results. Profit for Emirates NBD climbed 26 percent and for Emaar Malls Group PJSC leapt 43 percent.
In Abu Dhabi, the index dipped 0.7 per cent to 4,865.
The Sharjah-based energy company Dana Gas fell 5 percent to Dh0.56, while the Abu Dhabi-based energy company Taqa declined 4.23 percent to Dh0.68. Kuwait's SE Price Index and Oman's MSM 30 Index both slid 0.1 percent. Bahrain's BB All Share Index was little changed.
Egypt's EGX 30 Index retreated 1 percent, led by Commercial International Bank Egypt SAE, the country's biggest listed lender. The central bank is expected to maintain the benchmark deposit rate at 8.75 percent when it meets Thursday, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Cairo-based Pharos Holding is projecting a 50 basis-point cut.
The Egyptian pound was unchanged at 7.8301 per dollar in the interbank market after the central bank maintained its value at a regular currency sale Sunday. — SG
