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DUBAI - Stock markets in the Middle East were mostly weak in early trade on Sunday as investors lacked incentives to buy shares actively.
Qatar's index fell 0.1 percent after half an hour of trade with telecommunications operator Vodafone Qatar, the most heavily traded stock, dropping 1.0 percent.
The Dubai index lost 0.3 percent as almost three-fifths of traded shares declined, including GFH Financial Group, down 1.6 percent.
The Abu Dhabi index rose 0.3 percent as Abu Dhabi National Energy jumped 6.4 percent to 0.67 dirham in relatively active trade, testing chart resistance on the August peak at that level.
The stock has been on an upwards trend since the middle of August, when the state-owned oil explorer and power supplier reported a profit attributable to shareholders of 35 million dirhams ($9.5 million) in the three months to the end of June, swinging from a 588 million dirham loss a year ago. The profit was aided by higher oil prices and a one-off gain.
The Saudi index barely moved after 45 minutes of trade with small and mid-cap companies outperforming large caps. Saudi Paper Manufacturing, the top performer on Sunday morning, jumped 5.1 percent. Petrochemical firm Saudi Basic Industries slipped 0.1 percent.
(Reporting by Celine Aswad; Editing by Andrew Torchia/Keith Weir) ((celine.aswad@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 62247653)(Reuters Messaging: celine.aswad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Qatar's index fell 0.1 percent after half an hour of trade with telecommunications operator Vodafone Qatar, the most heavily traded stock, dropping 1.0 percent.
The Dubai index lost 0.3 percent as almost three-fifths of traded shares declined, including GFH Financial Group, down 1.6 percent.
The Abu Dhabi index rose 0.3 percent as Abu Dhabi National Energy jumped 6.4 percent to 0.67 dirham in relatively active trade, testing chart resistance on the August peak at that level.
The stock has been on an upwards trend since the middle of August, when the state-owned oil explorer and power supplier reported a profit attributable to shareholders of 35 million dirhams ($9.5 million) in the three months to the end of June, swinging from a 588 million dirham loss a year ago. The profit was aided by higher oil prices and a one-off gain.
The Saudi index barely moved after 45 minutes of trade with small and mid-cap companies outperforming large caps. Saudi Paper Manufacturing, the top performer on Sunday morning, jumped 5.1 percent. Petrochemical firm Saudi Basic Industries slipped 0.1 percent.
(Reporting by Celine Aswad; Editing by Andrew Torchia/Keith Weir) ((celine.aswad@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 62247653)(Reuters Messaging: celine.aswad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
