MIDEAST STOCKS-Signs that pressure on Saudi market may start easing

DUBAI - 9 November 2017: Gulf stock markets may stay under pressure on Thursday because of concern about the impact of Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption probe, but there are some signs that selling in the Saudi bourse could begin to ease.

The Saudi stock index closed marginally higher on Wednesday only because state-linked funds bought shares in an effort to avert a panic, fund managers said - a pattern seen throughout this week.

But trading volume, though still active, shrank by about a third from Tuesday, suggesting selling by wealthy individual invstors seeking to exit the market was not as frantic as previously.

Also, stocks in companies related to people detained in the probe began to stabilise. Al Tayyar Travel, whose founder Nasser bin Aqeel al-Tayyar has been arrested, fell only 3.5 percent after plunging 10 percent on each of the previous two days.

Kingdom Holding, the investment vehicle of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who was also detained, rebounded 0.7 percent after losing 21 percent over the previous three days and reaching book value.

In a fresh sign that the probe may affect asset flows beyond Saudi Arabia’s borders, however, banking sources told Reuters that the United Arab Emirates central bank and securities regulator had asked banks and finance companies in the UAE to provide information on the accounts of 19 Saudi citizens, including some who Saudi authorities have said are being held.

It was not clear whether regulators were acting at the request of Saudi authorities or simply sekking to understand how much money might eventually be pulled out of the UAE as a result of the probe.

Among individual stocks, Abu Dhabi National Energy Co may see some selling pressure after reporting a third-quarter loss attributable to shareholders of 194 million dirhams ($52.9 million) versus a year-earlier loss of 524 million dirhams. In the second quarter, it had posted a tiny profit.