Saudi stocks climb 0.7%

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) swung 0.7 percent higher on Tuesday with most buy orders executed in the final hour of trade as Brent crude oil futures climbed back over $56 a barrel.
Eleven of the 14 listed petrochemical producers advanced with Saudi Basic Industries adding 1.1 percent.
Banking shares, which were hard hit on Monday following Riyad Bank’s disappointing fourth-quarter results, recovered with National Commercial Bank adding 1.5 percent. Bank Albilad jumped 5.0 percent after reporting an 8.4 percent rise in quarterly net profit. But Riyad Bank fell a further 0.9 percent.
Saudi Cement added 0.8 percent after reporting a quarterly net profit of SR187 million ($49.9 million), up from SR176 million a year ago but below the average forecast of five analysts of SR199.2 million.
Real estate developer Jabal Omar Development climbed 1.4 percent after swinging to a net profit of SR79.3 million. It cited higher sales of residential units and an increase in revenue from its hospitality segment.
On Tuesday, Qatar’s stock market rose to a multi-month high on Tuesday in the heaviest volume since late November, buoyed by the banking sector, while firmer oil prices supported the rest of the Gulf and foreign investors bought up Egyptian shares.
Dubai’s index edged up 0.1 percent. Daily trading volume fell with most activity focused on small and mid-sized shares favored by local day traders. Islamic Arab Insurance jumped 3.3 percent.
Cairo’s index rose 1.3 percent to a fresh all-time high of 13,436 points as foreign funds were relatively heavy buyers of Egyptian shares, bourse data showed.
“Positive sentiment will continue to support the market and this is likely to be the case until there is specific, negative news that reverses the uptrend,” said Allen Sandeep, head of research at Cairo’s Naeem Brokerage.
Heliopolis Co. for Housing and Development, the top gainer, jumped 6.1 percent. Investment firm EFG Hermes added 2.2 percent to 28.40 Egyptian pounds ($1.50).

Source: Arab News