NEW YORK/dubai: US stocks fell yesterday, on track for a fourth day of losses, as a World Bank forecast sparked concerns about weak economies and December US retail sales missed expectations.
The S&P 500 broke below its 120-day moving average, a technical support level, and came within about 4 points of the low for the year of 1,992.44.
S&P 500 materials, energy and financial sectors all were down more than 2 percent, leading the day’s decline. Copper touched its lowest since July 2009 and was last down 6.2 percent at $5,497 a tonne after the World Bank cut its growth forecasts for this year and next.
The S&P 500 index is now down more than 4 percent from its last record high on Dec. 29, and the year so far has been marked by increased volatility.
“It’s a multitude of factors, but on top of the list, global growth has been and will continue to decelerate going into 2015, which will have further implications for the oil and commodities markets,” said Chad Morganlander, portfolio manager at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co in Florham Park, New Jersey.
Most Gulf stock markets were neutral to slightly positive yesterday, although negative news and earnings reports dragged down some individual stocks. Egypt’s bourse extended its winning streak on the back of cheap oil.
Saudi Arabia’s index added 0.7 percent, partly because of a rebound in beaten-down petrochemicals. Shares in Yanbu National Petrochemical Co (Yansab) surged 4.8 percent after it reported a 39.7 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit.
Yansab, a unit of Saudi Basic Industries, which climbed 1.0 percent, made a net profit of SR617.8m ($164.6m) in the three months to December 31 while analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast SR558.3m.
Much of the rise, however, was due to a temporary plant shutdown in the year-earlier period, so Yansab’s earnings did not indicate that Saudi petrochemical firms can remain unaffected by the plunge in oil prices, which threatens their margins.
Saudi Investment Bank climbed 6.5 percent, having reported a 14.8 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit, in line with analysts’ estimates.
Dubai’s market was nearly flat but builder Arabtec , which dominated trading, rose 1.6 percent. Arabtec will hold a board meeting on Thursday to discuss the company’s projects and investors may be expecting an update on its giant $40bn project to build one million housing units in Egypt.
Abu Dhabi’s benchmark inched down 0.1 percent with a roughly equal split between gainers and losers. Oman rose 1.0 percent, while Kuwait’s index edged up 0.2 percent.
Shares in Kuwait Foods Co, also known as Americana , tumbled 3.6 percent after sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday that the firm’s sale was close to being put on hold, partly due to differences on price.
Private equity funds KKR and CVC were among the main contenders for the business; last September, Saudi Arabia’s Savola Group said it had appointed JP Morgan to advise on a potential purchase of a stake. Savola fell 1.0 percent on Wednesday.
Qatar’s index edged down 0.5 percent as shares in Qatar National Bank (QNB) dropped 2.1 percent after it posted a 3.3 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit.
QNB, the largest lender in the Gulf, made a net profit of 2.45 billion riyals in the quarter; the average forecast of analysts polled by Reuters was 2.57 billion riyals.
Egypt’s bourse continued its rally, jumping 2.5 percent to 9,544 points, just below major technical resistance at 9,572-79 points, the peaks in November and December.
Car assembler and distributor GB Auto surged 4.8 percent after rising its daily 10 percent limit in each of the two previous sessions, following its announcement of plans to invest $1.5bn in new factories and carry out a $134m rights issue.Reuters
