File photo – Traders wait at the Bahrain Stock Exchange after Joe Biden wins the presidency of the United States, in Manama, Bahrain, November 8, 2020. REUTERS/Hamad Mohammed/Archive photo Obtaining licensing rights
September 3 (Reuters) – Most stock markets in the Gulf region closed lower on Sunday as factory activity contracted in China, as the economy showed signs of faltering and investor sentiment declined.
Data on Thursday showed manufacturing activity in China, the world’s second-largest economy, contracted for the fifth straight month in August, while expansion in the services sector lost little momentum.
The Qatari Index (.QSI) fell for the third session in a row, and ended its trading with a decline of 0.1%, with most sectors declining.
Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA), the largest bank in the region, fell 0.6%, and Commercial Bank (COMB.QA) lost 1%.
The main Saudi market index (.TASI) fell by 0.3%, with the shares of oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) falling by 1.3%.
The world’s largest oil company is considering selling a stake worth up to $50 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
But the shares of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (2010.SE) rose among the winners, 1.8 percent, after it said on Sunday that it had agreed to sell its unit, the Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed), to the Public Investment Fund for an enterprise value of 12.5 percent. One billion riyals ($3.33 billion).
Outside the Gulf region, Egypt’s leading stock index (EGX30) fell by 0.8%, breaking the series of successive increases it achieved in the previous six sessions, with most sectors declining.
The index was affected by a 1.3% decline in Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA) and a 3.7% decline in Elsewedy Electric (SWDY.CA).
(Reporting by Muhammad Manzoor Hussain; Editing by Hugh Lawson
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