Major Gulf markets gain as financial shares rise

Major stock markets rose in early trade on Monday, with gains in National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group helping the Saudi index after they signed a binding merger agreement.

The benchmark index in Saudi Arabia gained 0.2pc, with Samba Financial Group rising 2.7pc, while National Commercial Bank (NCB) was up 1.7pc.

National Commercial Bank, the kingdom's biggest lender, entered a binding merger agreement with smaller lender Samba Financial Group to create a combined entity with 837 billion riyals ($223.13 billion) in assets, NCB said on Sunday.

Low oil prices and weak economic growth are driving bank consolidation across the Gulf.

Dubai's main share index rose 0.4pc, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties gaining 1.5pc and it unit Emaar Malls was up 2.1pc.

Dubai's non-oil private sector expanded for a third consecutive month in September as it continued to see a modest improvement in business conditions, a survey showed on Sunday.

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Dubai Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 51.5 in September from 50.9 in August.

The Abu Dhabi index added 0.3pc, helped by a 0.5pc rise in the country's largest lender First Abu Dabhi Bank and a 1.5pc increase in Aldar Properties.

In Qatar, the index inched up 0.2pc, bolstered by a 0.6pc rise in Qatar National Bank, a day after it retreated 1.7pc.

On Sunday, the Gulf's largest lender saw a roughly 18pc decline in its third-quarter profit as it booked more loan loss provisions amid global economic uncertainty.