Saudi stocks gain in early trade, other Gulf markets mixed

• Oil prices rose on Thursday, with Brent crude up 1.7pc at 0550 GMT and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gaining 1.8pc.
• Saudi Arabia's index was up 0.4pc, led by the oil giant Saudi Aramco, which gained 0.5pc.

Saudi Arabian shares gained in early trade, registering their fifth consecutive daily gain amid a recovery in oil prices, after the world's largest oil producer agreed with Kuwait to halt oil production at the Al-Khafji field to curb supply glut.

Other major Gulf markets were mixed.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will halt oil production from the joint Al-Khafji field for one month, as of June 1, as part of OPEC+ meeting in April to cut oil production to rebalance global oil markets.

Oil prices rose on Thursday, with Brent crude up 1.7pc at 0550 GMT and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gaining 1.8pc.

Saudi Arabia's index was up 0.4pc, led by the oil giant Saudi Aramco, which gained 0.5pc.

National Commercial Bank rose 0.5pc, its seventh straight day of gains. The country's largest lender on Sunday reported a 2.1pc rise in first quarter profit.

Abu Dhabi's index was down 0.5pc. First Abu Dhabi Bank slipped 0.9pc and telecoms company Etisalat was down 0.4pc -- it fell for the second day after saying its chief executive had resigned.

Aldar Properties was flat but rose as much as 2.3pc in early trade despite reporting a 39pc fall in first-quarter profit.

The developer said the coronavirus pandemic would impact its operating environment for this year but that it still had a robust balance sheet, with AED 6.8 billion dirhams ($1.85 billion) of free cash and undrawn credit facilities.

Dubai's index was flat, with Emaar properties down 0.8pc and Aramex gaining 2.2pc.

Dubai Financial Market rose 2.1pc after reporting a 23.5pc increase in quarterly profit to 34.7 million dirhams.

The Qatari index was down 0.2pc after three consecutive days of gains. Masraf Al Rayan lost 0.7pc, while Qatar International Islamic Bank dropped 1.2pc.