MIDEAST STOCKS-Banks hurt Saudi Arabia, most Gulf markets collapse

                * Saudi Arabian Almarai slips after fourth quarter results
* Dubai DAMAC continues to decline after BofA degradation
* Emirates NBD continues to gain after fourth quarter results

DUBAI Jan 20 (Reuters) - Banking stocks topping Saudi Arabia's ranking
Stock market fell Sunday as most regional stock markets fell.
In Saudi Arabia, the index lost 0.8% with Al
Rajhi Bank and Samba Financial Group down
1.1% and 3.3% respectively.
The largest dairy company in Gulf Almarai paid 6
percent after falling 28 percent in the fourth quarter
profit.
The two main indices of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi
and in Dubai, each slipped 0.2%.
Abu Dhabi has been driven by telecommunications, banks and the real world.
succession shares. Telcom Etisalat lost 0.6%, while
First Abu Bank Bank (FAB), first UAE lender
fell 1.4 percent. Aldar Properties lost 0.7%,
The Dubai index, reversing previous gains, was weighed by
real estate and aviation shares. Major Developer DAMAC Properties
lost 4.0 percent. Last week,
BofA Merrill Lynch downgraded DAMAC to "underperform"
& # 39; & # 39 ;. neutral BofA stated in a research note that it was also reducing its
Earnings per share expected from 2018 to 2020 on DAMAC on average
47 percent, citing lower sales expectations and
Gross margin.
Air Arabia lost 1.9%. He said last week that he had filed
a criminal case against a former board member and founder of Abraaj
Arif Naqvi. The budget carrier has already stated that it has a
exposure of $ 336 million to a private equity firm in bankruptcy
Abraaj.
Dubai has benefited from the support of the leading bank Emirates NBD
which added 0.5 percent. Last week he reported a 10
percentage increase in fourth quarter net income. Developer Emaar
Properties also increased by 0.5%.
In Qatar, the index lost 0.3% with telecommunications
Vodafone Qatar loses 1.8% and Qatar Gas
Transportation dropped 1.5%.
The Bahrain index and the Kuwait index held up
the regional trend to close 0.5% and 0.3%,
respectively, both helped by bank shares.

SAUDI The index lost 0.8% to
ARABIA 8,384 points
DUBAI The index lost 0.2% to
2,513 points
QATAR The index lost 0.3% to
10,760 points
ABU DHABI, the index lost 0.2% to
4,975 points
EGYPT The index lost 0.3%
at 13,444 points
KUWAIT The index added 0.3% to
5,494 points
OMAN's index fell 0.1% at
4,203 points
BAHRAIN The index added 0.5% to
1,348 points

(Report by Alexander Cornwell
Edited by Andrew Heavens)