Saudi, UAE bourses firm after oil price rebound

DUBAI: Stock markets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates rose in early trade on Sunday, with Saudi petrochemical shares particularly strong, after oil prices rebounded at the end of last week.

The Saudi stock index added 1.0 percent in the first 50 minutes as Saudi Basic Industries, the top petrochemical producer, gained by the same margin.

Mining company Ma'aden rose 2.9 percent. Among tens of billions of dollars worth of deals announced by U.S. companies on Saturday during President Donald Trump's visit to Riyadh, GE said it would provide technology to Ma'aden to reduce its energy costs and boost efficiency.

Dubai's index edged up 0.2 percent. Gulf Navigation  climbed 2.9 percent after reporting first-quarter net profit grew 39 percent from year ago to 8.8 million dirhams ($2.4 million).

Abu Dhabi's index was 0.1 percent higher, but Qatar  fell 0.4 percent as Qatar National Bank, the largest lender, lost 1.1 percent.