MIDEAST STOCKS-Region hit by lower oil, Fed worries; Dubai’s DSI sinks – Reuters


* Saudi index confirms break of technical support

* Dubai’s Drake & Scull down 10 pct since mid-August

* Qatar gives up most of last week’s FTSE-related gains

* Gulf International Services outperforms after QNB rating

* Egyptian real estate firms fall sharply

By Andrew Torchia

DUBAI, Aug 22 Gulf stock markets sank on Monday
as oil prices and global equities dropped because of the
possibility of a U.S. interest rate hike, while Dubai builder
Drake & Scull dropped amid concern over its financial
situation.

Brent crude dropped below $50 a barrel on talk the
U.S. Federal Reserve might signal at a conference this week in
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that it is gearing up to raise interest
rates.

The Saudi stock index dropped 1.7 percent to 6,110
points, confirming a break of technical support on its early
August low of 6,226 points. That triggered a bearish right
triangle formed by the highs and lows since April and pointing
down to the 5,600-point area in the medium term.

The market’s drop was broad-based, with losers outnumbering
gainers 160 to four. Saudi Industrial Investment Group
plunged 7.7 percent in its heaviest trade since April.

Dubai’s index dropped 0.7 percent as Drake & Scull,
the most heavily traded stock, lost 3.0 percent. It has slipped
10 percent since mid-August, when it posted a big second-quarter
net loss; the Gulf construction industry has been hit hard by an
economic slowdown due to low oil prices, and companies have had
difficulties obtaining payments in Saudi Arabia.

Qatar’s index dropped 0.7 percent. It has now erased
most of the gains posted last week on expectations for foreign
fund inflows when FTSE upgrades the market to emerging-market
status in mid-September.

Among major losers, petrochemical producer Industries Qatar
dropped 1.2 percent and Qatar National Bank (QNB)
, the Gulf’s biggest listed lender, slid 1.6 percent.

But drilling rig provider Gulf International Services
rose 0.7 percent to 36.90 riyals after QNB rated the
stock “outperform” with a price target of 45 riyals, though that
was down from a previous target of 53 riyals.

In Egypt, the index slid 1.3 percent with real
estate firm Palm Hills Development sagging 3.5 percent
and Emaar Misr down 2.7 percent.

However, Minapharm Pharmaceuticals jumped 5.5
percent in thin trade after saying first-half net profit jumped
34 percent from a year earlier.

MONDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

SAUDI ARABIA

* The index dropped 1.7 percent to 6,110 points.

DUBAI

* The index fell 0.7 percent to 3,535 points.

ABU DHABI

* The index fell 0.2 percent to 4,511 points.

EGYPT

* The index dropped 1.3 percent to 8,247 points.

QATAR

* The index fell 0.7 percent to 11,214 points.

KUWAIT

* The index lost 0.5 percent to 5,443 points.

OMAN

* The index fell 0.4 percent to 5,874 points.

BAHRAIN

* The index dropped 0.5 percent to 1,152 points.

MIDEAST STOCKS-Region hit by lower oil, Fed worries; Dubai’s DSI sinks – Reuters}