Most stock markets in the Middle East gained on Tuesday, driven by rising oil prices amid hopes for a recovery in traffic and fuel demand as countries began to ease coronavirus lockdown measures.
The Saudi stock index rose 1.7%, led by a 2.3% gain in Al Rajhi Bank and a 2.6% increase in oil giant Saudi Aramco.
On Monday, the latter said that its operations and supply chains were uninterrupted despite the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
The kingdom on Sunday started isolating an industrial area of the city of Dammam, in the oil-producing Eastern Province, where Aramco is headquartered, to curb the spread of coronavirus, state news agency SPA reported.
Elsewhere, Aldrees Petroleum and Transport Services leapt 5.4% after reporting a marginal rise in quarterly net profit.
In Dubai, the benchmark added 0.4%, helped by a 1.1% gain in Emirates NBD Bank.
Separately, Uber Technologies' subsidiary Careem said on Monday it was cutting 536 jobs this week, representing 31% of the Dubai-headquartered company's workforce.
The Abu Dhabi index gained 1.6%, with the United Arab Emirates' largest bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, rising 3.1%.
Qatar's index ended 1.5% up, with 19 of 20 stocks on the index gaining, including petrochemical firm Industries Qatar, which was up 3.8%.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's index rose 1% as Commercial International Bank (COMI) closed up 1.3% despite reporting a 9% fall in first-quarter net profit. However, the lender posted a rise in net interest income.
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