Most Gulf stock markets edged down on Sunday despite strength in some Saudi Arabian petrochemical shares, while Telecom Egypt boosted Egypt’s bourse slightly.
Brent crude oil closed above $50 a barrel on Thursday and Friday for the first time since July 4. 
This encouraged buying of petrochemical stocks on Sunday, with Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) adding 0.9 percent to SR84.25, nearing technical resistance at SR86-SR87, the top of the range in which it has traded since April.
Most other stocks were sluggish in the absence of fresh, positive news, and the main Tadawul All-Shares Index fell 0.2 percent.
Dubai’s stock index fell 0.4 percent to 3,560 points, once again retreating from technical resistance at its April peak of 3,605 points. Construction firm Drake & Scull slid 2.7 percent.
Qatar’s index fell 0.2 percent. Stocks which surged last week on hopes they would be included in FTSE’s emerging markets index next month lost steam, with Qatar National Bank flat and Qatar Insurance losing 1.4 percent.
Bahrain’s index outperformed the region, rising 0.7 percent, but that was mostly because of a 6.3 percent jump in Arab Banking Corp. in very thin trade.

In Egypt, the index rose 0.4 percent as Telecom Egypt surged 3.0 percent. Late last week the telecommunications regulator approved revised terms for 4G mobile broadband network licenses; Telecom Egypt has said it will buy a license.

Source: Arab News