DUBAI: Jumps in financial shares helped most stock markets in the Gulf close higher on Thursday, with indexes heading for a quarterly gain, although the Abu Dhabi benchmark bucked the trend to end lower for the day.
The GCC has outperformed on the back of oil price strength. There might be a concerning signal in the last month’s weakness in non-commodity sectors in Saudi, said Hasnain Malik of Tellimer
The most value and potential for recovery in the region is seen in Dubai, he said.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index closed up 1%, adding a 4.7% over the July-September period, although at a slower pace than the previous two quarters.
Al Rajhi Bank jumped and Saudi National Bank jumped 1.3% and 2% receptively after brokerage firm EFG Hermes raised target prices.
Saudi Telecom added nearly 2% after its unit, solutions by stc, surged nearly 30% on its first day of trading amid a rush of initial public offerings.
Oil prices, a key catalyst for the Gulf’s financial shares, will see modest gains for the rest of the year and into 2022 as consumption resumes its recovery to pre-pandemic levels, with a likely COVID-19 resurgence still looming large over the outlook, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.
In Dubai, the main share index rose 0.7%, logging a slower quarterly gain of 1.2% so far in this year, supported by a 1.1% rise in Emirates NBD Bank and a 1.2% leap in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties.
Abu Dhabi’s index ended the month down 0.4%, but eked out 12.6% for the quarter. The country’s largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank dropped 1.7% and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank lost 0.7%.
In Qatar, the benchmark gained 0.5% as petrochemical company Industries Qatar increased 1.4%, logging a seventh consecutive sessions of rise.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index closed 1% higher, bolstered by a 1.8% jump in its top lender Commercial International Bank-CIB.
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