DUBAI: Most major Gulf indexes closed higher on Wednesday, with the Saudi market extending gains on the back of steady oil prices, while Dubai’s index was supported by solid corporate earnings.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index rose 0.7%, with country’s luxury property developer Retal Urban Development Company increasing 1% and Saudi Electricity up 1.5%.
Saudi National Bank, the kingdom’s biggest lender, jumped 1.7% after its second-quarter net profit almost doubled.
Bolstered by its banking stocks, the Qatari benchmark climbed 1.7%, led by a 2.6% jump in Qatar Islamic Bank and a 3.8% leap in Sharia-compliant lender Masraf Al Rayan.
In Dubai, the main share index gained 0.4%, helped by a 1.5% hike in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 0.9% rise in Dubai Islamic Bank after the lender posted second-quarter net profit of 1.34 billion dirhams ($365 million), up from 1.01 billion dirhams a year earlier.
Cooling solutions provider Tabreed rose 2.6% after it posted a quarterly net profit of 152.2 million dirhams, compared with 148 million dirhams a year earlier, and the board approved an increase in the foreign ownership limit to 100%.
Abu Dhabi’s index edged up 0.3%, led by a 2.7% increase in ADNOC Drilling after it announced $2 billion in contracts to enable the delivery of ADNOC’s Ghasha offshore mega gas project.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index was weighed down by a 0.4% decline in e-payment platform Fawry Banking and Payment Technology Services.
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