Monday, 07 September 2015 17:12
DUBAI: Food maker Savola Group lifted Saudi Arabia’s stock market in early trade on Monday after a media report about its acquisition plans, while Egypt’s market consolidated.
Savola has joined with Singapore’s Temasek Holdings to bid for Kuwait Food Co (Americana), Bloomberg reported on Sunday.
Savola surged 5.3 percent and was the main support for Saudi Arabia’s index, which climbed 1.3 percent. Savola officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Other sectors were also positive, continuing a leg up which began on Sunday after the finance ministry said the government would keep borrowing, if necessary, to fund important development projects.
Egypt’s main index rose 0.3 percent but the market was roughly equally split between gainers and losers.
Ezz Steel, which had surged last week on news of a huge gas field discovery that could help address Egypt’s energy crisis, slipped 0.2 percent on Monday after local newspaper Al Mal quoted a government official as saying Cairo would not raise import duties on steel.
