MIDEAST STOCKS-Major Gulf bourses mixed, Saudi falls on weak earnings

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Gulf stock markets opened mixed on Tuesday as strong U.S. economic data fuelled concerns of further interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve to tame high inflation, while Saudi Arabia's index fell on a slew of poor earnings. Data on Monday showed U.S. core capital goods orders accelerated in January, beating forecasts, while contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes rose the most in more than 2-1/2 years in January. Monday's data comes after a hotter-than-expected personal consumption expenditure report on Friday, which reinforced expectations the Fed will need to stay on its hawkish path for longer. Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar, while Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar usually mirror U.S. monetary policy changes. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index dropped 0.2%, extending losses for an eighth-consecutive session. The index was weighed down by a 3.8% dive in petrochemicals firm Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) .

Sabic posted a 94% slump in its fourth-quarter net profit to 0.29 billion riyals ($77.28 million) compared to a 4.97 billion riyals profit a year-ago. Annual net income attributable to shareholders for 2022 came in at 16.53 billion riyals ($4.40 billion), down 28% from the previous year. Sahara International Petrochemical (Sipchem) also fell 0.7% after reporting slightly lower net profit of 3.60 billion riyals ($959.33 million) in fiscal year 2022, compared to 3.59 billion riyals ($956.67 million) a year ago. Among other stocks, National Industrialization's (Tasnee) annual profit halved to 666.3 million riyals ($177.56 million). Dubai's benchmark stock index edged down 0.2%, dragged down by properties and utilities stocks, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties shedding 0.9% and TECOM Group losing 1.7%. In Abu Dhabi, the benchmark stock index edged up 0.2%, led by a 1% increase in United Arab Emirates' biggest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and a 1.2% hike in Telecoms firm e& , formerly known as Emirates Telecommunications.

The Qatari Stock index edged up 0.2%, supported by its industrial and financial stocks. Petrochemical maker Industries Qatar added 0.9%, while Qatar National Bank , the Gulf largest lender, was up 0.2%. Qatar Gas Transport Nakilat also gained 1.4%. ($1 = 3.7526 riyals) (Reporting by Shamsuddin Mohd in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

Reuters

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MIDEAST STOCKS-Major Gulf bourses mixed, Saudi falls on weak earnings

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