Saudi Shares Lead Gulf Gains While Israel Slumps: Inside EM
(Bloomberg) --
Saudi Arabia led gains in the Gulf as the earnings season started in the kingdom with a positive tone. In Israel, the main index fell for the first time in five sessions amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus.
Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index ended 1% higher. Food producer Almarai Co. JSC, the first Saudi company to deliver second-quarter numbers, gained as much as 2% after posting an 11% increase in profit.
As more company results for the period are published, “we expect the recovery to be gradual and believe that the theme that would play out is, the large companies getting larger at the behest of the smaller ones,” Al Rajhi Capital analysts wrote a note.
Benchmarks in in Dubai and Abu Dhabi were mixed after non-oil private sector activity in the UAE improved in June for the first time in six months and reached the strongest since October 2019, according to IHS Markit data released on Sunday. Gauges in Kuwait and Bahrain climbed, while those in Qatar and Oman fell.
In Israel, the TA-35 retreated as much as 3.3% after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country is in a state of emergency due to a resurgent coronavirus outbreak, and additional steps are needed to try to stem its spread.
| HIGHLIGHTS |
|---|
|
|
MIDDLE EASTERN MARKETS:
- The Tadawul All Share Index is still down 12% for the year
- Almarai registered a record SAR4.08b in revenue for the quarter
- Zain Saudi and Mobily climbed 0.3% and 1.1%, respectively, after the companies said they are in talks to create a joint business that would buy their telecommunications towers
- Dubai's DFM General Index rises less than 0.1% while Abu Dhabi's ADX General falls 0.2%
- Damac Properties +5.5%; Emaar Properties +0.4%; First Abu Dhabi Bank +0.2%
- In Kuwait, the Premier Market rises 0.4% higher
- READ, on July 2: Kuwait to Inject 240 Million Dinars to Support Private Sector
- Israel's TA-35 extends loss this year to 19%
- Bank Hapoalim -4.1%; Bank Leumi -4%, Israel Discount Bank -4.4%; Bank Mizrahi Tefahot -4.4%
- MORE: Bank of Israel May Issue Dovish Guidance on Cutting Rates: Leumi
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
-
Joining The Dots | Dark Skies, Steady Diya: Why Hope Holds This Diwali
With war, a weak rupee and foreign outflows weighing on sentiment, policymakers at the NDTV World Summit and market veterans at NDTV Profit Ignite: Diwali Edition offered the same advice: stay invested and filter out the noise.
-
The Curious Case of Equitas Small Finance Bank And A CEO Who Quit For Stock
PN Vasudevan believes persistent investor concerns over a perceived conflict of interest had become a governance overhang on Equitas Small Finance Bank's stock, even as the lender improved profitability and asset quality.
-
Talking Points This Week: AI Cash Burn, A Tiger Comeback And An India That Still Finds Its Own Path
India is not immune to higher oil or tighter global liquidity, yet its earnings base is broader, its domestic policy levers are still available.
-
Foreign Investors Own Half Of HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. An LTCG Cut Could Matter Most Here
Foreign portfolio investors have US$115 billion parked in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank. If the government cuts long-term capital gains tax, Jefferies says returning foreign money could land here first.
