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October 28 (Reuters) – The Gulf stock markets were generally not very active early Sunday. Saudi Arabia consolidated its gains on Thursday after closing at its highest level in the past two weeks.
The leading index fell 0.1% in the first hour of trading, as banks and petrochemical stocks declined.
Saudi Basic Industries Co. (SABIC) recorded a 0.9% decline after reporting a 5.4% increase in net revenues in the third quarter, which was slightly above badysts' forecasts.
Al Rajhi Bank, which last week announced double-digit profit growth for the third quarter, lost 1.0 percent on its profit-taking.
The National Commercial Bank (NCB) fell by 0.8% and the financial group Samba by 1.1%.
A sign that global investors are still holding on to Saudi Arabia, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, has announced its intention to more than double its investment in Saudi Arabia after its next inclusion in the fund's benchmark.
Dubai's main index fell by 0.2%, driven by property and banking values. Major developer Emaar Properties lost 1% and competitor DAMAC Properties 2%.
The Dubai Islamic Bank, which recorded a 10.8% jump in profits in the third quarter earlier this month, lost 0.4%.
Qatar resisted the trend with a main index up 0.2%, supported by banking and energy stocks. Qatar is the best-performing title in the Gulf region, registering 19% gains since the beginning of the year, thanks in part to the measures taken by its largest companies to increase the foreign equity limit to 49%. %.
Qatar has received an additional $ 1.5 billion in its stock market since the increase in the foreign equity limit to 49 percent, said Gulf State Stock Market Development Director Mohsin Mujtaba.
The Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest bank in the region, has risen by 1.0% and Qatar Islamic Bank is trading 0.5%.
Qatar Industries was 0.3% higher. (Edited by Toby Chopra)
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