Some Tadawul stocks fall on profit-taking

DUBAI: Gulf stock markets consolidated on Tuesday after seesawing in line with oil prices over the last few days, while Egypt pulled back further, having previously outperformed most markets in the Middle East.
Brent crude traded near $62 per barrel on Tuesday as the International Energy Agency warned of supply risks in the Middle East, although some analysts said that prices had risen too far from six-year lows hit in January.
The main Tadawul All-Share Index was nearly flat as some stocks fell on profit-taking or negative news. The index inched up 0.03 percent to 9,442 points. Petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp. fell 1.0 percent, cutting year-to-date gains to 14.3 percent.
Eastern Province Cement dropped 3.4 percent. The stock had tumbled 8.0 percent on Monday after the company proposed a SR2.50 cash dividend for 2014, down from SR3.50 a year earlier.
Meanwhile, two companies focused on real estate development in Makkah, Jabal Omar and Makkah Construction and Development, rose 3.8 and 1.7 percent respectively.
Dubai's stock index rose 0.9 percent to 3,870 points as major developer Emaar Properties, which tumbled 3.6 percent on Monday, climbed 0.8 percent.
Emaar reported a 14 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit before Monday's session, which was slightly ahead of analysts' estimates but triggered a bout of profit-taking.
Another real estate firm, DAMAC, surged 5.7 percent. The stock has fluctuated sharply since listing in Dubai last month, and it fell 3.7 percent on Monday. DAMAC plans to issue one bonus share for every 10 existing shares, but has yet to call a shareholder meeting to approve it and set the date.
Abu Dhabi's index edged up 0.3 percent to 4,661 points. Bank of Sharjah surged 4.4 percent after its board proposed a 0.09 dirham cash dividend for 2014 — lower than 0.125 dirham for 2013 — but also said it would seek regulatory approval for a buy-back of 4.7 percent of outstanding shares.
Qatar's index edged down 0.4 percent to 12,554 points, while Kuwait and Oman were flat. Bahrain's bourse added 0.7 percent as Bahrain Telecommunications Co. (Batelco) jumped 3.0 percent after it recommended a dividend of 25 fils per share for 2014, up from 19 fils in 2013.
Meanwhile, Egypt's stock index, which had been gaining when oil plunged, extended losses and fell 1.6 percent to 9,434 points.
Ezz Steel tumbled 4.7 percent after posting a third-quarter net loss that widened to 285.38 million Egyptian pounds ($37.4 million) from 84.1 million pounds a year earlier.
The company blamed the widening loss on a "sudden deterioration of the global steel market" which brought on "dumped" imports, as well as energy shortages which were followed by a hike in energy prices and the "severe shortage in foreign currencies in Egypt" — evidence that despite last year's
strengthening of the Egyptian economy, operating conditions remain unstable for many companies.