Dubai leads major Gulf markets higher

DUBAI: Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Monday, amid hopes that the busy Suez Canal waterway will soon be reopened after the ship blocking it was partially re-floated.

The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index gained 1.4%, buoyed by a 1.5% rise in Al Rajhi Bank and a 3.6% surge in National Commercial Bank.

“There is renewed hope in the GCC market as several industries are beginning to trend up. This is excellent news as the market took a bit of a hit last week, and performances were a bit lacklustre,” said Daniel Takieddine, market analyst at FxPRIMUS.

Now, analysts expect that the market should rebound properly from last week’s doldrums and post even higher gains, Takieddine added.

Dubai’s main share index advanced 2.1%, with its top lender Emirates NBD rising 2.7%, while property developer Emaar Properties climbed 2.9%.

Dubai Holding, the investment vehicle of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, said on Monday it had partnered with five firms to develop a 4 billion dirham ($1.09 billion) energy-from-waste facility.

In Abu Dhabi, the index finished 1.2% higher, led by a 2.4% increase in telecoms firm Etisalat.

Elsewhere, shares of Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) soared 14.4% after the firm begun interim manufacturing of a vaccine from China’s Sinopharm, part of a joint venture between Sinopharm and Abu Dhabi-based G42.

Under the JV, a new main plant is being built in Abu Dhabi with production capacity of 200 million Hayat-Vax doses a year.

The Qatari index closed 1.3% higher, as most of the stocks on the index traded in positive territory including petrochemical maker Industries Qatar.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index retreated 1.2%, hit by a 2.5% fall in Commercial International Bank and a 3.7% fall in tobacco monopoly Eastern Company .