MIDEAST STOCKS: Saudi flat, Egypt rises as New Suez Canal complete

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Saudi Arabia’s stock index moved little on Thursday while Egypt’s bourse edged up after the country completed the expansion of the Suez Canal, a key source of revenue.

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The main Saudi index was nearly flat as heavyweights Jabal Omar and Saudi Telecom (STC) moved in opposite directions.

Jabal Omar, a property developer focused on the Muslim holy city of Mecca, jumped 3.0 percent after announcing it had been awarded a 1.56 billion riyal ($415 million) construction contract for one of its projects.

STC, the Gulf’s biggest telecommunications operator by market value, tumbled 5.6 percent after it posted an 8.7 percent fall in second-quarter profit which it blamed rising costs.

The firm made a net profit of 2.56 billion riyals in the quarter. Analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast 2.94 billion riyals.

Petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries edged up 0.2 percent in line with oil prices, which ended a long streak of losses on Wednesday and extended gains on Thursday.

Egypt’s stock index rose 0.6 percent after the country’s army finished building the New Suez Canal, a project that Cairo sees as a major chance to stimulate an economy suffering double-digit unemployment.

El Sewedy Electric, which this week said its subsidiary Iskraemeco Slovenia had won a contract to deliver 1.6 million smart electricity meters worth 160 million euros ($176 million), was one of the top gainers, jumping 3.3 percent.

Egypt’s largest private sector bank, Commercial International Bank, edged up 0.6 percent after announcing a 23 percent rise in second-quarter net profit, which was broadly line with analysts’ estimates.

 

Babatunde Akinsola
Babatunde Akinsolahttps://naija247news.com
Babatunde Akinsola is aNaija247news' Southwest editor. He's based in Lagos and writes on the Yoruba Nation political issues, news and investigative reports

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