MIDEAST STOCKS Major Gulf Stock Exchanges Slow Early Trading as Financial Stocks Drag

June 15 (Reuters) – Major Gulf stock markets were sluggish at the start of trading on Tuesday, mostly hit by losses in financial stocks in the absence of new factors to trade on.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark (.TASI) fell 0.4%, with Al Rajhi Bank (1120.SE) losing 0.9%, while the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (1211.SE) was down. 1.2%.

The kingdom’s inflation rate rose for the second month in a row, climbing to 5.7% in May from 5.3% in April, again reflecting a tripling of value added tax to 15% last year , according to official data released Tuesday. Read more

Saudi Arabia’s economy, the largest in the Arab world, shrank 3% in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier, hit by cuts in oil production. Read more

Dubai’s main stock index (.DFMGI) fell 0.3%, with Emirates NBD Bank (ENBD.DU) falling 0.4% and logistics company Aramex (ARMX.DU) losing 1.5%.

The Dubai Stock Exchange is about to undergo a new delisting, which raises a question mark over the future of one of the main Gulf stock exchanges, launched two decades ago. Read more

A $ 595 million bid to privatize DAMAC Properties (DAMAC.DU) by company founder Hussain Sajwani is the latest blow to the stock market, even as the Gulf city real estate market showed signs of life in the first trimester. Read more

However, DAMAC traded flat.

The Abu Dhabi Index (.ADI) fell 0.2%, penalized by a 0.1% drop from First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD), the country’s largest lender, and a drop of 0.2% of the telecommunications company Etisalat (ETISALAT.AD).

In Qatar, the index (.QSI) fell 0.2%, driven by a 0.8% drop at Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA), the largest bank in the Gulf.

Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bangalore; Editing by Giles Elgood

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