Major Gulf markets rise, blue-chip selloff trips Egypt

Major Gulf markets ended higher on Tuesday, largely driven by financial shares, while broad-based losses pulled Egyptian shares down with property leading the pack.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index rose 0.5%, with Jabal Omar Development jumping 6.9%, while oil giant Saudi Aramco was up 0.6%.

Dubai's main share index gained 0.7%, led by a 1.9% rise in Emirates NBD Bank and a 1.2% increase in sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank. The Abu Dhabi index closed up 0.3%, with telecoms firm Etisalat rising 0.4% and the largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank up 0.2%.

The United Arab Emirates federal government posted a second-quarter budget surplus of around 9.75 billion dirhams ($2.65 billion), state news agency WAM said on Monday, up from a surplus of 1.8 billion dirhams in the first quarter.

Revenues in the second quarter were at 34.744 billion dirhams and expenditures were at 24.997 billion dirhams, WAM said, citing a finance ministry report.

In Qatar, the index added 0.4%, supported by a 1.2% gain in lender Masraf Al Rayan and a 2.5% leap in utility firm Qatar Electricity and Water Company.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index dropped 1.7%, with Telecom Egypt sliding 8.6% and Talaat Mostafa Holding losing 4.3%.

The Arab state's net foreign reserves stood at $38.36 billion at the end of August, up slightly from $38.315 billion in July, the central bank said on Monday.

Foreign reserves had dropped since March from a high of more than $45 billion amid economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.