JEDDAH – Stock markets in the Gulf ended in mixed territory Monday, with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain sliding into negative territory, while the rest of the regional markets surged ahead. The Saudi stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index flirted with the psychologically-important 7,000-point mark for much of the session before dropping in the last hour of trading to close 0.43 percent lower at 6,965.66 points. Large-caps dragged, with none of the 18 largest stocks posting a gain, as investors cashed out ahead of the long Eid holiday, scheduled to begin this weekend. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. slipped 0.5 percent, Saudi Telecom dropped 1.3 percent. Riyad Bank fell 0.4 percent. Savola Group rose 1 percent to its highest level since May 2008. It has now gained in four straight sessions. Bahrain measure slipped 0.3 percent to 1,076 points. However, Dubai's benchmark climbed 0.8 percent to its highest close since May 3 at 1,581 points supported by property stocks. Bellwether Emaar Properties advanced 1.5 percent, Deyaar Development gained 0.8 percent and Union Properties added 1.3 percent. “We saw a strong continuation of the rally in the UAE's real estate stocks - optimism is being driven by evidence of a slow recovery in prices and strong sales and delivery figures reported in Q2 earnings,” said Sleiman Aboulhosn, assistant fund manager at Al Masah Capital. In Abu Dhabi, the index rose 0.3 percent to 2,547 points. First Gulf Bank advanced for the sixth successive session to close above AED10 for the first time since March 14. It rose 1.1 percent, taking August gains to 10.7 percent. In Kuwait, the measure ended 0.2 percent higher to 5,689 points from Sunday's eight-year low. Gulf Finance House, which accounted for more than a quarter of shares traded, rose 5.6 percent to a five-week high after its latest results showed it swung to a profit in the second quarter. Oman's benchmark gained 0.4 percent to 5,496 points. It was supported by Renaissance Services, which jumped 5.5 percent after reporting a 56.8-percent rise in quarterly profit. Bahrain's index, down 0.3 percent, slipped back towards last week's nine-year low, weighed by Ahli United Bank. The largest stock on the exchange declined 1.8 percent to its lowest level since February 2010. Qatar returned to positive territory, up 0.09 percent to 8,413 points after Sunday's dip broke an eight-session winning streak. Elsewhere in Cairo, Egypt's benchmark index rose 1.5 percent Monday after President Mohamed Morsi curbed the army's powers and retired the country's two top generals, removing the biggest challenge to his authority six weeks after he took office. World stock markets eased Monday as evidence piled up that the global economic slowdown is dragging on Asia. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 32 points to 13,175 as of 3 p.m. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell two to 1,404. The Nasdaq composite index fell a point to 3,020. In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 index closed down 0.4 percent at 1,094.74 points - its biggest intraday fall since ending down 1.2 percent on Aug. 2. Hong Kong dropped 0.27 percent, Shanghai shed 1.51 percent and Tokyo edged down 0.07 percent. Meanwhile, the euro was up 0.37 percent at $1.2335 and the US dollar index was down 0.17 percent at 82.414. Separately, the price of oil fell Monday on a new sign that Asian countries won't make up for slackened oil demand in Europe. Benchmark oil fell 14 cents to finish at $92.73 per barrel in New York. The drop mirrored a decline in US stock prices. Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, rose 65 cents to end at $113.60 per barrel in London. – SG/Agencies
