Abu Dhabi outperforms Gulf stocks as IHC extends surge

Abu Dhabi stocks outperformed Gulf markets on Monday, led by a 9% surge in the shares of the International Holding Company (IHC) conglomerate, which benefited from the listing of a subsidiary.

The Abu Dhabi index advanced 1.2%, while International Holding was up 3.4%, having jumped 15% on Sunday. IHC shares are up around 170% this year.

IHC, now Abu Dhabi's most valuable listed company, gained after the listing of Alpha Dhabi Holding, in which IHC holds a 45% stake and which operates in the healthcare, construction and hospitality sectors..

Alpha Dhabi leapt over 8%.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index rose too, adding 0.2%, helped by a 0.4% gain in Al Rajhi Bank and a 0.5% increase in petrochemical maker Saudi Basic Industries .

Separately, Saudi Fransi Capital has started a book building process for Tanmiah Food Co's initial public offering, setting a price range of 59 riyals ($15.73) to 67 riyals per share, the investment banking group said on Sunday.

But Dubai's main share index eased 0.2%, hit by a 0.5% fall in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties. Emaar shed some of the 1% gain it made on Sunday, after S&P Global raised its outlook to stable from negative.

S&P attributed the outlook revision to better momentum in Dubai's residential real estate, with prices rising in some areas for the first time since 2015.

The Qatari benchmark lost 0.2%, with petrochemical maker Industries Qatar falling 0.6% and Qatar Fuel Company dropping 1.3%.

However, the index's losses were limited by telecoms firm Ooredoo, which rose 1.3%. Ooredoo shares retreated 3.8% on Sunday after the imposition of a 3.5 million riyal ($950,000) financial sanction for violating instructions issued by the authority.