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Gulf Arab stocks post mixed showings on last day of April

Xinhua, April 30, 2017 Adjust font size:

Stock market indexes from Dubai to Riyadh performed asymmetrically on Sunday, as the earnings season for the first quarter is rolling on.

The Dubai Financial Market saw its lead index DFMGI slipping 0.05 percent to 3,414.93, where Dubai-listed construction giant Arabtec lost 4.56 percent in value, while Islamic insurance firm Takaful Emarat jumped 2.14 percent.

Insurance stocks have been outperforming the market throughout the month "as the market expects mergers and acquisitions in the sector due to increased competition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as we have 44 local and 27 foreign insurance firm operators in the country which has over 10 million inhabitants," Fareed Lutfi, secretary general of Emirates Insurance Association, told Xinhua earlier this month in an exclusive interview.

However, the Dubai gauge has been stubbornly hovering around 3,500 points in April.

"Regional markets were decidedly weak as the oil price failed to recover, and oil prices continued their slide due to muted demand in Asia and uncertainty over the Russian cooperation with OPEC on production cuts," said Dubai-based economist Nasser Saidi in his weekly market commentary earlier on Sunday.

Oil has been trading in a range between 49 and 54 U.S. dollars per barrel during the month, he added.

In Saudi Arabia, Tadawul All-Share Index climbed 0.98 percent to 7,013.47 on Sunday, hitting a two-week high, as the market gained backwind from the Saudi government's fiscal discipline.

"Saudi Arabia's fiscal deficit was 26 billion Saudi riyals (6.9 billion dollars) in the first quarter this year, far below the government's projection of 56 billion riyals due to a mix of higher-than-expected oil revenues and public spending cuts," said Saidi.

Saudi Arabia's stock exchange is expected to introduce equity futures and options in about 24 months, the economist added.

In the UAE's capital Abu Dhabi, the ADX General Index closed at 4,522.56 points on Sunday, up 0.21 percent, while In Doha, the Qatar Exchange Index declined 0.25 percent to 10,064.35 points. Endit