Most Gulf stocks closed lower on Sunday, with Kuwait hit hardest after its banking federation said banks would not pay dividends, while Egyptian shares sold off on a spike in coronavirus cases.
The Kuwaiti index .BKP tumbled 3.2%, its biggest intraday fall since April, with National Bank of Kuwait NBKK.KW down 4% and Kuwait Finance House KFH.KW ending 3.8% lower.
Kuwait’s Capital Markets Authority on Thursday cancelled all Wednesday’s stock transactions after bank stocks fell in the wake of a banking federation statement that Kuwaiti banks would not pay dividends for 2020.
Beyond the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index ended 0.9% down, pressured by a 2.6% fall in Egypt Kuwait Holding EKHO.CA and a 4.4% drop in El Sewedy Electric SWDY.CA. .EGX30 is down 0.9% to 10,731 points.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index .TASI slipped 0.2%. Banque Saudi Fransi 1050.SE fell 2.2%, while petrochemical maker Saudi Basic Industries eased 0.6%. Separately, the kingdom’s Amlak International for Real Estate Finance said it will proceed with an initial public offering of 30% of its shares on the Riyadh exchange.
Dubai’s main share index .DFMGI eased 0.5%, driven down by a 4.8% fall in Dubai Investments DINV.DU, extending losses from the previous session after the stock traded ex-dividend and Arabtec Holding ARTC.DU was down 1.3%.
The Abu Dhabi index .ADI slipped 0.4%, hurt by a 0.7% fall in top lender First Abu Dhabi Bank FAB.AD. Qatar’s index .QSI dropped 0.5%, with petrochemical firm Industries Qatar IQCD.QA falling 1.9% and utility company Qatar Electricity and Water QEWC.QA declining 2%.
Bahrain’s .BAX retreated 0.5% to 1,274 points and Oman’s .MSI edged up 0.2% to 3,520 points.
Source Nasdaq