MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi edges up, Egypt continues slide on rate worries

DUBAI – Saudi Arabia’s stock market edged up in early trade on Thursday, buoyed by interest in beaten-down cement firms, while Egypt fell again on worries about a possible interest rate increase, a currency devaluation or both.

A decision by Saudi Arabia to raise oil prices to its main customers in Asia contributed to a sense that crude may finally have bottomed out. Also, a purchasing managers’ index released on Thursday showed non-oil business activity in Saudi Arabia accelerating slightly in February from January’s multi-year low .

That helped the Saudi index rise 0.3 percent in the opening minutes. Jouf Cement climbed 3.5 percent to 9.00 riyals in unusually heavy trade; it is down from a mid-2015 peak of 18.35 riyals. Najran Cement added 2.0 percent.

Saudi cement companies have been urging the government to ease restrictions on cement exports, and hopes this could happen soon have aided stocks in the sector during the last few weeks.

Egypt’s bourse headed for its fourth straight day of declines, however. Rising bond yields this week have convinced investors that the central bank may soon raise interest rates or let the Egyptian pound drop.

The economy is still struggling; Egypt’s purchasing managers’ index for February showed business activity there shrank for a fifth straight month.

Financial firm Prime Holding fell back 5.0 percent in unusually heavy trade after several days of strong rises, but Beltone Financial continued soaring on its deal to acquire CI Capital; it added a further 10 percent.