Regional stock markets may continue to consolidate on Monday amid a lack of positive factors, while Saudi Arabia’s index, which has rebounded for three straight days, faces technical resistance.
Exchange data released late on Sunday showed foreign investors were net sellers of Saudi Arabian equities for a third straight week in the wake of authorities’ sweeping crackdown on corruption, but by a smaller margin than in the previous week, suggesting capital flows may soon stabilise.
Foreign investors sold 835 million riyals ($223 million) of Saudi stocks and bought 598 million riyals in the week through November 23, resulting in net selling of 237 million riyals. That compares with net selling of 309 million riyals in the week to November 16 and 1.08 billion riyals in the week to November 9, immediately after the purge was announced.
However the index, last at 6,934 points, faces resistance on the top of its downtrend channel extending back to mid-October, now at 6,980 points. The outlook will turn technically short-term bullish only if this resistance breaks.
In Dubai, Drake & Scull announced that its shares had been included in the MSCI GCC index. That index covers about 85 percent of the free float-adjusted market capitalisation in the Gulf Cooperation Council, and is less exclusive than MSCI’s emerging markets index, which is used by many more funds.
In global markets, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan has dropped 0.65 percent, while oil prices are slightly softer.
Source: Reuters
