Rally in Gulf Finance lifts Kuwait bourse for third day

Dubai: Kuwait-listed Gulf Finance House soared yesterday after its chairman sold a $1.4 million (Dh5.138 million) stake in the firm, helping the country's index gain for a third straight day.

The investment company's stock jumped 8.2 per cent. Its major shareholder sold seven million shares to Al Ahlia Bahrain brokerage, according to a bourse statement on Wednesday.

The index ended 0.7 per cent higher, up for a third day since Monday's seven-year low.

Large-caps also rose, with National Bank of Kuwait up 1.9 per cent, Zain climbing three per cent and Kuwait Finance House rising 2.2 per cent.

"Generally, Gulf markets will probably remain sideways for the next two months," said Shakeel Sarwar, head of asset management at Securities & Investment Co in Bahrain.

"Most of the major companies reported good results without having much impact. I don't think any positive [earnings] surprise will have an impact from now on. The market is more worried about the global economic issues."

The euro fell broadly and world stocks slipped from a one-and-a-half-week high yesterday after European officials said a selective default for Greece was a live possibility, raising concerns about impact on the banking sector.

In Qatar, the index ended little changed with Qatar Islamic Bank weighing on the bourse after its quarterly results failed to impress investors.

The lender slipped 0.3 per cent after posting a 26.9 per cent rise in second-quarter net profit of 382 million riyals (Dh385.35 million).

"QIB's profitability results are somewhat inline with our expectations, deviating six per cent from our expectation of 361 million riyals on account of provisioning reversal of seven million riyals during second quarter," Digvijay Tanwar, senior financial analyst at Gulf Investment House, said in a research note.

The benchmark inched up 0.06 per cent, up just 0.4 per cent in July.

Large-caps were mixed, with Qatar National Bank easing 0.2 per cent, while Industries Qatar gained 0.2 per cent. Oman's market was closed yesterday for a public holiday.