Major Gulf bourses gain in early trade, led by financial stocks

Major stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade on Tuesday, led by advances in financial shares, with Qatar on track to extend gains for a fourth straight session.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index rose 0.3pc, with Saudi Telecom Company rising 0.8pc and Banque Saudi Fransi up 0.9pc.

Credit Agricole sold its remaining 4pc stake in Banque Saudi Fransi to two Saudi government-related institutional investors in a deal worth 1.45 billion riyals ($387 million), the French bank said on Monday.

Elsewhere, Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) gained 1.1pc.

The telecoms firm raised a 6-billion-riyal ($1.6 billion) loan to refinance existing debt and secure access to additional liquidity to support growth, it said in a bourse filing.

Dubai's main share index added 0.4pc, driven by a 1.2pc gain in sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank and a 2.8pc jump in logistic firm Aramex.

On Monday, Aramex ended two sessions of losses triggered when the logistics firm confirmed last week that a portion of its warehouse facility in Morocco had been damaged in a fire.

The Abu Dhabi index gained 0.3pc, helped by a 0.5pc increase in the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank and a 0.9pc rise in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

In Qatar, the index was up 0.7pc, with Qatar National Bank up 2.2pc.