Qatar leads Gulf markets higher; Abu Dhabi shares fall

DUBAI: Qatar’s stock market on Wednesday extended its winning streak to a fifth straight session to outperform the Gulf region on strong earnings, while Abu Dhabi stocks ended lower.

Qatari index rose 0.5% as financial and materials sectors gained.

Qatar’s Commercial Bank surged 10% on upbeat fiscal year earnings and higher dividend. The bank reported a more than 22% rise in annual net profit to 2.81 bln-riyal ($771.98 million), beating analyst expectations of a profit of 2.34 bln riyal. It also raised annual cash dividend by 56% to 0.25 riyal per share compared with 2021.