MIDEAST STOCKS-Markets may struggle, earnings continue to weigh on Dubai

DUBAI - 15 August 2017: Middle Eastern stock markets may continue to struggle with an absence of positive factors on Tuesday as corporate earnings once again weigh on Dubai.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan is up 0.3 percent after North Korea's leader signalled that he would delay plans to fire a missile near Guam. But Brent crude oil fell about 2 percent overnight and is below $51 a barrel.

In Dubai, top real estate developer Emaar Properties reported a 14.4 percent increase in second-quarter profit that was roughly in the middle of analysts' forecasts.

But Union Properties posted a quarterly loss attributable to shareholders of 2.29 billion dirhams ($624 million) against a loss of 18.7 million dirhams a year ago.

The firm said it had identified a "suspected irregularity" for the first half and communicated this to United Arab Emirates regulatory authorities. It said provisions taken to cover earlier accounting errors related to a plot of land, including a partially built hotel project, pushed it into a loss.

Restaurant and retail investment firm Marka reported a second-quarter loss attributable to shareholders of 126 million dirhams versus a year-ago loss of 18.7 million dirhams.

In Abu Dhabi, Dana Gas reported a 71 percent leap in second-quarter profit to $12 million, but said capital spending in the first half of the year was down 84 percent to $13 million as it balanced spending with available sources of cash.

Egypt's index, which fell 1.1 percent on Monday to 13,135 points, has been deteriorating technically; it dropped below its July low of 13,261 points as well as support on its 100-day average, now at 13,167 points. A head & shoulders pattern formed by the highs and lows since June, and triggered this week, points down to about 12,650 points.