Dubai Stocks Fall in Mixed Trading; Kuwait Retreats.

Petrotahlil - Stocks in Dubai dropped the most in a week amid mixed share trading across the Middle East and Gulf region.

The DFM General Index retreated more than 2% while the main gauge in Qatar advanced 1.2%. Kuwaiti stocks dropped for a second day, losing as much as 0.9%, after the country imposed a 20-day full curfew as it recorded 641 new Covid-19 cases Friday, its biggest daily increase.

Middle East investors are looking ahead to oil giant Saudi Aramco’s earnings announcement on May 12. The company still appears committed to its dividend policy for now, which is “encouraging,” according to Salih Yilmaz, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence in London. The stock advanced 1% as of 10:20 a.m. in Riyadh.

“Dividends are under the spotlight now after Shell cut its payout for the first time since World War II,” Yilmaz wrote in a note. “Before cutting dividends -- which are expected to total $75 billion this year for Aramco -- capital-spending revision is the most-efficient financial lever it’s likely to pull.”

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Bloomberg 

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