Most stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade on Tuesday, in line with Asian shares, while the Saudi index extended losses as oil prices fell.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 1.5% on Tuesday, as hopes grow for an easing of China’s unprecedented regulatory crackdown on its once-freewheeling tech sector.
Abu Dhabi’s benchmark index advanced 3.1%, buoyed by a 4.1% jump in the counry’s largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank, while telecoms company e& rose 3.4%.
Last week, e&, formerly known as Emirates Telecommunications Group, said it had bought a 9.8% stake in Vodafone for $4.4 billion, days after saying it was looking to expand into new markets and related areas such as financial technology.
Dubai’s benchmark index gained 1.7%, with the emirate’s biggest listed property firm Emaar Properties up 6.4%.
Saudi bourse extends losses; Qatar edges higher
On Friday, Emaar posted a record profit of 2.24 billion dirham ($610 million) in the first quarter, as property sales surged 17%.
Analysts had expected a net profit of 1.06 billion dirhams, according to Refinitiv. The Qatari index climbed 1.5%, led by a 2.5% rise in Qatar National Bank and a 2.4% gain for telecoms firm Ooredoo.
Bucking the trend, Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index fell 0.8%, extending the previous session’s losses as it was hit by a 2.4% fall in oil giant Saudi Aramco.
The kingdom’s crude oil exports in March fell to 7.235 million barrels per day from 7.307 million bpd in Feb, official data showed on Monday.
Oil prices, a key catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets, inched lower on Tuesday as Hungary resisted a European Union push for a ban on Russian oil imports, a move that would tighten global supply, with investors taking profits on a recent rally.
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