MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf edges down despite petchems; Telecom Egypt climbs – Reuters


* Brent crude oil above $50 a barrel

* Saudi Basic Industries nears top of recent range

* FTSE prospects in Qatar lose steam

* Thinly traded Arab Banking Corp lifts Bahrain

* Telecom Egypt climbs after 4G licence terms approved

By Andrew Torchia

DUBAI, Aug 21 Most Gulf stock markets edged down
on Sunday despite strength in some Saudi Arabian petrochemical
shares, while Telecom Egypt boosted Egypt’s bourse
slightly.

Brent crude oil closed above $50 a barrel on
Thursday and Friday for the first time since July 4. This
encouraged buying of petrochemical stocks on Sunday, with Saudi
Basic Industries adding 0.9 percent to 84.25 riyals,
nearing technical resistance at 86-87 riyals, the top of the
range in which it has traded since April.

Most other stocks were sluggish in the absence of fresh,
positive news, and the main Saudi equities index fell
0.2 percent.

Dubai’s stock index fell 0.4 percent to 3,560
points, once again retreating from technical resistance at its
April peak of 3,605 points. Construction firm Drake & Scull
slid 2.7 percent.

Qatar’s index fell 0.2 percent. Stocks which surged
last week on hopes they would be included in FTSE’s emerging
markets index next month lost steam, with Qatar National Bank
flat and Qatar Insurance losing 1.4 percent.

Bahrain’s index outperformed the region, rising 0.7
percent, but that was mostly because of a 6.3 percent jump in
Arab Banking Corp in very thin trade.

In Egypt, the index rose 0.4 percent as Telecom
Egypt surged 3.0 percent. Late last week the
telecommunications regulator approved revised terms for 4G
mobile broadband network licences; Telecom Egypt has said it
will buy a licence.

SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

SAUDI ARABIA

* The index fell 0.2 percent to 6,212 points.

DUBAI

* The index dropped 0.4 percent to 3,560 points.

ABU DHABI

* The index edged up 0.02 percent to 4,519 points.

EGYPT

* The index rose 0.4 percent to 8,352 points.

QATAR

* The index fell 0.2 percent to 11,298 points.

KUWAIT

* The index edged down 0.1 percent to 5,468 points.

OMAN

* The index edged up 0.1 percent to 5,899 points.

BAHRAIN

* The index rose 0.7 percent to 1,157 points.

(Editing by Andrew Roche)

MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf edges down despite petchems; Telecom Egypt climbs – Reuters}