(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia's equity index ended lower for a second day, after spending much of the trading session in the green, as investors assessed changes in the top position within the country's energy ministry.
Over the weekend, the Saudi king named his son as energy minister replacing Khalid al-Falih, who had been the face of OPEC diplomacy over the past three years. The new minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, is half-brother to the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and has served in the energy ministry for decades, most recently as state minister for energy affairs. He is seen as a capable and experienced technocrat.
While the reshuffle is seen as having little direct impact on the Saudi market, investors have been shying away from some expensive stocks in Riyadh, said Marwan Haddad, senior portfolio manager at Emirates NBD Asset Management, in an interview to Bloomberg Television.
Petrochmical's giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp. is trading near the highest valuation in over a decade while projected earnings per share fall to the lowest since May 2016.
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MIDDLE EASTERN MARKETS:
- Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index shed 0.1%, after rising as much as 0.6% earlier
- The Tadawul Banks Index fell 0.4%, with six of its 11 members declining
- Haddad, from Emirates NBD Asset Management, highlights buying opportunities in the United Arab Emirates and in Egypt
- Sectors he's bullish on include healthcare, transportation and logistics
- Gauges in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman lost between 0.2% and 0.8%
- In Dubai, Emirates NBD sank as much as 3.6%
- READ: Emirates NBD Close to Hiring Banks for $2 Billion Rights Issue
- In Israel, the TA-35 advanced 0.7% as of 3:19 p.m. local time, boosted by pharmaceutical companies
- Perrigo +4.9%; Teva Pharmaceutical +2.2%
- READ, on Sept. 6: KKR's Arbor, Teva Drop Patent Suit on Copies of Head-Lice Lotion
- MORE: Kuwait's CMA to Start Stake Sale of Bourse to Local Investors
--With assistance from Yousef Gamal El-Din, Manus Cranny and Dana El Baltaji.
To contact the reporter on this story: Filipe Pacheco in Dubai at fpacheco4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, James Cone, Stephen Kirkland
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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