Saudi Arabia's stock market edged up in early trade on Wednesday, supported by National Petrochemical Co (Petrochem), which surprised analysts with strong second-quarter earnings. Egypt's bourse slipped. Petrochem surged 8.6 percent after the company posted, just before the extended Eid al-Fitr break which began last week, a 55 percent increase in second-quarter net profit that it attributed, among other factors, to cheaper feedstock. "Earnings stumped us and the consensus; margins likely significantly ahead of expectations," NBK Capital said in a note, commenting on those results. Petrochem's parent company, Saudi Industrial Investment Group, posted a 61.4 percent increase in quarterly profit on Wednesday and its shares surged 6.4 percent, helping lift Saudi Arabia's main stock index 0.2 percent. Saudi Ground Services jumped 2.1 percent after reporting a 15 percent increase in second-quarter profit. Meanwhile, Egypt's index slipped 0.2 percent with most stocks in the red. South Valley Cement fell 1.3 percent after another company in the sector, Suez Cement , posted a 57 percent decline in quarterly profit. But Amer Group rose 1.0 percent after its shareholders approved a report outlining a planned split into two companies. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/135934.aspx
