Most major Gulf markets gain; Abu Dhabi falls

Most major stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Wednesday, with the Dubai index leading gains on back of top lender Emirates NBD.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index added 0.2%, supported by a 5.5% rise in Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services .

The value of Saudi Arabia's oil exports in March rose by 75% year on year to 52.3 billion riyals ($13.95 billion), official data showed on Wednesday.

Non-oil exports increased by 42.9% to 22.4 billion riyals, the General Authority for Statistics said.

Dubai's main share index advanced 1%, boosted by a 4.6% increase in Emirates NBD.

Last week, the bank sold $750 million in Additional Tier 1 bonds after receiving more than $1.75 billion in orders, a document showed.

Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday its cloud service unit will launch three data centres in the first half of 2022 in the United Arab Emirates, its second Middle East infrastructure region.

"The UAE seems to be extending its efforts to welcome international business as the Minister of Economy, Abdulla Bin Touq Al-Marri said in an interview that the UAE aims to double its economy to 3 trillion dirhams ($816.82 billion) over the next decade," said Mohamad Ibrahim, regional director Middle East at Exness.

However, sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank gave up early gains to close flat.

A judge in Abu Dhabi ruled in favour of Dubai Islamic Bank and against the administrators of NMC, in a case that could complicate the private healthcare firm's multi-billion-dollar debt restructuring.

In Abu Dhabi, the index fell 1%, ending three sessions of gains, with the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank down 2.6%.

Abu Dhabi sold $2 billion in seven-year bonds on Tuesday in its first foray into international debt markets this year, raising cash for state coffers despite a recent rebound in oil prices.

The Qatari benchmark edged up 0.2%, with petrochemical firm Industries Qatar rising 2.6%.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index declined 1.5%, weighed down by a 4.2% fall in Commercial International Bank and a 2.7% decrease in Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic.