Most Golf Fairs in Red; Aramco’s Third Quarter Profit Soars

Oct. 31 (Reuters) – Most Gulf stock markets ended lower on Sunday, with the Saudi index extending losses for a third session as profit-taking continued after the main index hit multi-year highs.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index (.TASI) fell 0.5%, weighed down by a 1.7% decline at petrochemical maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) (2010.SE), pushing losses by a third. session were extended.

On Thursday, SABIC reported net profit of 5.6 billion riyals ($1.49 billion), up from 1.1 billion riyals over the same period last year, but missed Refinitiv’s compiled consensus estimate of 6.1 billion riyals. read more

But Saudi Arabia’s state oil producer Aramco (2222.SE) finished 0.4% higher after a sharp rise in quarterly results, boosted by higher crude oil prices and volumes sold, ahead of analyst forecasts. read more

Aramco’s net income rose to $30.4 billion in the third quarter, from $11.8 billion a year earlier.

The oil giant has risen more than 8% this year to a market value of just over $2 trillion, a goal the de facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was pursuing before the company’s IPO.

In Abu Dhabi, the index (.ADI) fell 0.1%, hit by a 1.7% drop in Alpha Dhabi Holding (ALPHADHABI.AD) and a 0.1% drop in First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB. AD), the country’s largest lender.

Dubai’s main stock index (.DFMGI) rose 0.1%, helped by a 0.8% rise in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties (EMAR.DU) and a 10.4% rise in DAMAC Properties (DAMAC .DU).

On Thursday, DAMAC said the board of directors had unanimously recommended that minority shareholders accept founder Hussain Sajwani’s offer to buy them out and delist the company.

If accepted, BlackRock, State Street and other minority shareholders will receive 1.4 dirhams ($0.38) in exchange for each share they own, according to the offer.

Outside of the Gulf, the Egyptian blue chip index (.EGX30) fell 0.8% after rising 1.3% in the previous session.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s central bank kept its key interest rates unchanged at Thursday’s monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting.

($1 = 3.7508 riyals)

Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Giles Elgood

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