Bellwether Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) made its largest daily gain in nearly 11 months Tuesday at the close of Saudi stock trading after its earnings beat forecasts, helping lift the bourse from seven-week lows. The Saudi stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index climbed 3.21 percent to close at 7,511.72 points, rebounding after closing lower in eight of the previous nine sessions. Tadawul is up 17 percent year-to-date. "It's not entirely clear whether we're done with the correction yet or not, but we are now reasonably positioned for slower and steady gains," said Paul Gamble, head of research at Jadwa Investment. Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) gained 1.1 percent. The telecoms firm reported a 21 percent rise in earnings Monday, just short of forecasts. Sabic jumped 4.3 percent to SR102.25 in its largest daily gain since March 2011. "The market has already beaten down the stock on result nervousness," Riyad Capital wrote in a note. "Trading at 9.5 times 2012 estimated earnings with a dividend yield of 5.6 percent, we believe the stock will reverse its underperformance and we continue to recommend a 'buy"' rating," Riyad Capital added, raising its target on Sabic to SR121.50 from SR117. Elsewhere, Abu Dhabi benchmark climbed 0.2 percent to 2,505 points. In Abu Dhabi, telecoms operator Etisalat helped the index rise 0.2 percent from Monday's eight-week low. Dubai's benchmark closed largely flat at 1,649 points, with year-to-date gains at 21.9 percent. "Dubai continues to stay within its tight range of the past month with a high of 1,707 and a low support of 1,637," said Bruce Powers, head of research and analysis at Trust Securities. "Fluctuations within the range have little consequence." If the index breaks below this range, its next support will be at 1,592, while a break above would push it towards 1,730, he added. Qatar's measure slipped 0.1 percent to its lowest close since March 25 at 8,713 points, while Kuwait's index climbed 0.7 percent to 6,237 points and Oman's benchmark rose 0.6 percent to 5,983 points.
