Major Gulf markets mixed in early trade

Major Gulf markets mixed in early trade

Oct 27 (Reuters) – Major stock markets in the Gulf were mixed in early trade on Thursday as investors parsed through corporate earnings for clues, with Qatari shares extending losses to a fourth session.The Qatari index (.QSI) fell 0.6%, dragged down by a 1.8% drop in Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA) after a drop in quarterly net profit .The petrochemical maker reported a net profit of 1.6 billion riyals ($439.56 million) for the third quarter, down from 2.1 billion riyals a year ago.Qatar Insurance (QINS.QA) plunged as much as 9.5% in its biggest intraday fall in more than two-and-a-half years, as the insurer swung to a nine-month loss of 130.7 million riyals compared to a profit of 498.2 mln riyals a year earlier.Dubai’s main share index (.DFMGI) added 0.2%, helped by a 0.8% increase in top lender Emirates NBD (ENBD.DU) on strong quarterly earnings .

In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI) advanced 1%, buoyed by a 4.7% jump in Multiply Group (MULTIPLY.AD) ahead of its earnings.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index (.TASI) dropped 0.4%, dragged by a 1.4% fall in Retal Urban Development Co (4322.SE) and a 4.1% slide in Saudi National Bank (SNB) (1180.SE).SNB, the kingdom’s largest, said on Thursday it was taking part in Credit Suisse Group’s (CSGN.S) capital raising and committed to investing up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.52 billion) to take a stake of up to 9.9%.On Thursday, South Korean refiner S-Oil Corp (010950.KS), whose largest shareholder is Aramco, said it projected regional refining margins would improve in the fourth quarter on seasonal demand . read more

Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu

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