Mideast Stocks: Most major bourses track Asian shares, oil prices lower

Most major stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trade on Monday, tracking losses in Asian shares and oil prices, although the Saudi index was on track to snap a three-day losing streak, Reuters reported.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS shed 1.4%, after a surprise drop in U.S. unemployment quashed any thought of a pivot on policy tightening ahead of a reading on inflation which is expected to see core prices move higher again.
Dubai’s main share index .DFMGI retreated 1%, hit by a 2% decline in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties EMAR.DU and a 1.1% decrease in Emirates NBD Bank ENBD.DU.
In Abu Dhabi, the index .FTFADGI dropped 0.6%, with the United Arab Emirates’s biggest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank FAB.AD.
Crude prices, a key catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets, fell, snapping five days of gains, as investors took profits after a report on slowing economic activity in China, the world’s biggest crude importer, re-ignited concerns about falling global fuel demand.
In Qatar, the index .QSI eased 0.1%, with the Gulf’s largest lender Qatar National Bank QNBK.QA falling 0.8%, ahead of its earnings announcement.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index .TASI, however, added 0.2%, helped by a 0.4% rise in Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE and a 1.1% increase in Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services 4013.SE.
Separately, the kingdom’s Power and Utility Company for Jubail and Yanbu (Marafiq) has set the price range for its potential initial public offering at 41 to 46 riyals ($10.91-12.24) a share, HSBC said on Sunday.
Marafiq, which aims to list on Riyadh’s Tadawul bourse, will sell 29.24% of its issued share capital, just over 73 million shares, by selling shares held by investors owning stakes of 5% or more.