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Roundup: Lower oil prices, earning season weigh on Gulf Arab markets
Comtex News NetworkDUBAI, Jul 08, 2012 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Stock indices from Kuwait to Muscatended mixed Sunday as investors preferred to stay on the sidelineswhile the earning season has just started.
After hitting a one-month high last week, the Dubai FinancialMarket (DFM) General Index lost the most Sunday, closing down 0.43percent lower at 1,498.16 points mostly due to losses in thefinancial segment.
However, market bellwether Emaar Properties closed even as didthe United Arab Emirates' largest construction firm Arabtec.Shares of maintenance and plumber firm Drake and ScullInternational or DSI advanced 0.12 percent to hit 0.816 Dirham (0.22 U.S. dollars).
Earlier in the day, DSI said it signed an agreement with U.S.software developer Oracle to implement Oracle JD EdwardsEnterprise Application Modules for its operations in the MiddleEast. The firm, which runs operations in over 20 countries in theMiddle East, Africa, Asia and Europe, added in the statement tothe DFM that "DSI will look to pioneer technology by implementingan integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to cater to theconstruction industry by seeking business value from nextgeneration IT applications."
In Riyadh, the Tadawul All Share Index slipped 0.10 percent toclose at 6,855.12 points. The price for a barrel of oil, which inthe past correlated positively with the Saudi gauge, fell duringthe weekend by over three percent after week labor market datafrom the United States last Thursday raised fears the world'slargest economy could fall into a new recession. Riyadh Bankshares ended 0.21 percent lower at 23.95 Saudi riyal (6.4dollars). Earlier in the day, Saudi-Arabia's third-largest lendersaid its net profits for the second quarter of 2012 reached 914.4million Saudi Riyal (237.74 million dollars) representing ayear-on-year increase of 9.4 percent.
Elsewhere in the region, the start of the earning season leftinvestors mostly undecided, as the Bahrain Bourse's lead indexfell by 0.05 percent and the Muscat Securities Market dipped 0.30percent. Market measures in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait bucked the trendslightly, advancing 0.11 percent and 0.18 percent, respectively.
