Saudi Telecom Co (STC) shares fell after the Kingdom's regulator confirmed BlackBerry messenger will be banned from Friday, weighing on Saudi Arabia's index Tadawul All Share Index (TASI). The index retreated 0.01 percent to 6,300.44 points on Wednesday's close. STC fell 1.6 percent, taking its losses to 4.9 percent this week, while rival Etihad Etisalat ended flat to leave it down 4.3 percent since Sunday. A ban on BlackBerry in Saudi Arabia will affect only its Messenger text messaging service but an Aug. 6 deadline for its enforcement is final, a spokesman for the telecommunications regulator told Reuters on Wednesday. Such a ban is seen hitting telecoms operators' revenues, with part of their income coming from data services. Other bluechips showed little movement as the index slipped 0.01 percent to 6,300 points. “The Saudi market has done quite well lately, but it's now looking weaker and should be sideways to negative along with other regional markets, despite oil being at $82,” said Shahid Hameed, Global Investment House head of asset management for the Gulf region. “There aren't any new triggers to take the market higher.” Meanwhile, at the end of July this year, TASI closed at a level of 6,283.73 points - the highest close level during the month - gaining 189.97 points or 3.12 percent over the close of the previous month, Tadawul website said on Wednesday. On an YTD basis, TASI registered a positive return of 2.65 percent or 161.97 points. Total equity market capitalization at the end of July 2010 reached SR1,232.50 billion ($328.67 billion), increasing by 2.84 percent over the previous month. The total value of shares traded for the month reached SR54.57 billion ($14.55 billion), a drop of 29.77 percent from SR77.70 billion a month before. The total number of shares traded reached 2.30 billion shares, compared to 3.60 billion shares traded during the previous month, decreasing by 36.01 percent. The total number of transactions executed reached 1.46 million compared to 2.36 million trades in the previous month, a fall of 38.13 percent. Saudi nationals got 90.45 percent of trade for selling at SR49.36 billion and 84.09 percent for buying at SR45.88 billion. The share of Saudi companies from the market traded was 2.41 percent for selling at SR1.31 billion and 8.26 percent for buying at SR4.51 billion. The share of investment funds from the market trades was 2.78 percent for selling at SR1.52 billion and 3.16 percent for buying at SR1.73 billion. The share of GCC nationals from the market trades was 1.34 percent for selling at SR729.07 million and 1.86 percent for buying at SR1.02 billion. The share of Arab residents in Saudi Arabia from the market was 1.56 percent for selling at SR851.14 million and 1.45 percent for buying at SR793.84 million. The share of foreigners residing in Saudi Arabia from the market traded was 0.24 percent for selling at SR129.64 million and 0.17 percent for buying at SR90.25 million. The share of foreigners via swap agreement from the market was 1.22 percent for selling at SR668.33 million and 1.01 percent for buying at SR548.92 million. Dubai's index DFM ended lower for a fourth session in five, giving up the previous day's gain to underline the dominance of day traders. Analysts said institutional and longer term investors are uninterested in UAE markets as the property sector shows little sign of recovery and Dubai World's multibillion dollar debt restructuring remains unresolved. “People are very cautious, that's why we're seeing almost no volumes in the UAE - many investors are trading Saudi Arabia and Egypt instead,” said Mohamed Khaled, Prime Emirates relationship manager. Emaar Properties fell 1.8 percent and Arabtec dropped 1.7 percent, with this pair accounting for nearly half of all shares changing hands. Both stocks have been steady despite each reporting below-forecast quarterly profits. “There's been little reaction, which is an indication that there's not much room for further major downside,” said Khaled. “The problem is that there aren't any catalysts for the market to move up either.” The index fell 1 percent to 1,513 points as volumes declined by nearly half from the day before. Abu Dhabi's Aldar Properties dropped 5.3 percent to a fresh 16-month closing low. Its shares have fallen by more than half since late March and on Thursday the developer reported a second-quarter loss of AED475 million ($129 million), markedly worse than estimates. Abu Dhabi's index ADI slipped 0.6 percent to 2,535 points. Qatar's index QSI ended lower for the first day in three as investors took profits from Tuesday's six-week high, but the longer-term outlook appears positive, with above-forecast bank earnings supporting valuations. Industries Qatar (IQ) fell 1.2 percent to 100.80 riyals, but was up 3.8 percent in a little over a week. “IQ breaking 100 riyals is a very positive sign and market movement usually starts with IQ, followed by the banking sector and then services,” said Samer Al Jaouni, general manager of Middle East Financial Brokerage Co. Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) climbed 1 percent, extending gains since it reported a 23 percent rise in second-quarter profit to beat estimates as higher provisions for bad loans were offset by deposit growth and a lid on expenses. “There is a lot of appetite from foreign investors for CBQ and it is one of the most liquid banking stocks,” said Jaouni. The index slipped 0.2 percent to 7,087 points. “By holding above 7,000 points, the Qatar market has shown there's belief in present valuations,” Jaouni added. Zain rose 1.7 percent, equaling a 10-week closing high to lift Kuwait's index KWSE. Zain has entered a non-disclosure agreement with Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) as the Abu Dhabi-listed firm studies its Kuwait rival's assets, an industry source told Reuters. Kuwait's benchmark climbed 0.2 percent to 6,650 points. Bank Muscat reached an 11-week closing high, helping Oman's index MSI edge higher as other bluechips stumbled. Bank Muscat climbed 1 percent to 0.846 rials. The stock is ascendant since breaking above resistance at 0.84 riyals, while the lender's fundamental outlook is also encouraging for some analysts. Global Investment House this week gave Bank Muscat a fair value of 0.986 a share and a ‘hold' rating. Port Services ended flat as 3.2 million shares change hands - a 30-fold increase from the day before - after saying the Port of Salalah chief executive had resigned. Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel) fell 0.7 percent, Bank Dhofar dipped 1.4 percent and Galfar Engineering lost 1.1 percent. The index edged up 0.02 percent to 6,350 points.
