Tadawul drops 0.3%

DUBAI: The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) on Tuesday dipped 0.3 percent with decliners outnumbering gainers 93 to 61.
Middle East Healthcare declined 1.4 percent after saying a subsidiary would start commercial operations at a new hospital in the city of Hail next week. It predicted the hospital would incur an operating loss of SR7.5 million ($2 million) for 2017.
Meanwhile, strong corporate earnings in Egypt and Dubai buoyed those markets and Kuwait continued pulling back on profit-taking after a bullish run last month.
Dubai Financial Market climbed 3 percent after it made a net profit of AED78.5 million ($21.4 million) in the fourth quarter, five times what it made in the prior-year period. Quarterly revenue increased to AED131.2 million from AED69.3 million as the market’s trading turnover ballooned late last year, buoyed by a recovery of oil prices.
The Dubai index rose for a third consecutive session and added 0.7 percent, although it briefly traded in negative territory early in the day.
Amusement park operator DXB Entertainments, which has not yet reported quarterly earnings, rose 1.8 percent. The operator of Dubai’s Legoland, Motiongate and Bollywood Parks will report results for the first time since those facilities opened.
Banking shares helped lift Abu Dhabi’s index 0.5 percent. Union National Bank, which is expected to release earnings on Thursday, jumped 3.5 percent.
Kuwait’s index, which soared 19 percent in January, dropped 1.8 percent on profit-taking in heavy trading volume. It is now down 5.2 percent since Jan. 30.
Cairo’s Palm Hills Development soared 9.2 percent to 3.08 Egyptian pounds after it reported fourth-quarter consolidated net profit after minority interests of 235 million pounds ($12.7 million) versus 169 million pounds a year ago, beating many analysts’ estimates. Revenue rose to 2 billion pounds, up 89 percent.
Analysts at Cairo’s Naeem Brokerage said the company’s top line results were ahead of their estimates while rising real estate prices and accelerated construction in recent years would boost the bottom line in coming quarters.