PHOTO
A trader looks at share prices on an electronic display at the Doha Stock Exchange, Qatar January 18, 2016. Naseem Zeitoon, Reuters Image used for illustration purpose
Saudi Arabia's stock market ended slightly lower on Sunday after a fall in oil prices at the end of last week, while banking shares helped lift Qatar's benchmark index.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index <.TASI> fell 0.2% in a choppy trade, hit by a 4.6% fall in ACWA Power Company <2082.SE> and a 3.3% decline in Saudi Arabian Mining Co <1211.SE>.
Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - settled more than 2% lower on Friday as traders grew less fearful of prolonged supply disruptions from a hurricane in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, while China's latest economic stimulus packages failed to impress some oil traders.
Deflationary pressures in the Chinese economy have been a heavy drag on oil prices this year, with customs data showing a sixth consecutive month of year-over-year declines in the country's crude oil imports for October.
Separately, the general chief of staff of Saudi Arabia's armed forces, Fayyad al-Ruwaili, will visit Tehran on Sunday to meet with his Iranian counterpart and discuss defence ties, Iran's state media reported the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff as saying.
The Qatari index <.QSI> - which resumed trading following a two day break - gained 0.5%, with Qatar Islamic Bank <QISB.QA> advancing 1.1% and the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank <QNBK.QA> was up 0.4%.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index <.EGX30> added 0.4%, with top lender Commercial International Bank <COMI.CA> rising 1.4%.
SAUDI ARABIA | <.TASI> fell 0.2% to 12,103 |
QATAR | <.QSI> gained 0.7% to 10,118 |
EGYPT | <.EGX30> rose 0.4% to 31,394 |
BAHRAIN | <.BAX> eased 0.2% to 2,027 |
OMAN | <.MSX30> rose 0.2% to 4,714 |
KUWAIT | <.BKP> added 0.4% to 7,735 |
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton)