• Saudi index rises for a sixth day

DUBAI: Most Gulf stock markets closed higher on Tuesday, spurred by rising oil prices, with Dubai leading gains with help from its strengthening Covid-19 vaccination drive.

Brent hit $71 and was trading at its highest since March, on expectations of growing fuel demand during the summer driving season in the United States.

The stock index in Dubai surged 1.4% after three consecutive days of decline, helped mostly by property and financials.

The blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and Emirates NBD Bank climbed 2.5% and 1.5%, respectively.

Dubai, the second-largest member of the United Arab Emirates federation, which has among the world’s highest immunisation rates, has started offering the Pfizer-BioNTech, Covid-19 vaccine to 12-15-year-olds.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index was up 0.4% on its sixth consecutive day of gains, with telecom and financial shares rising the most.

Saudi Telecom increased 3.4%, while Al Rajhi Bank and Riyad Bank were up 0.8% and 1.1%, respectively.

The Abu Dhabi index ended 0.8% higher as ADNOC Distribution jumped 10%, ending a fifth-session losing streak.

Last week, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) raised $1.64 billion by issuing exchangeable bonds and additional shares to investors in its listed retail unit, ADNOC Distribution.

Qatar’s index was up 0.3% with Industries Qatar gaining 0.7% and Qatar Electricity and Water rising 2.2%.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index fell 0.7%, with most of its constituents closing lower. The largest lender, Commercial International Bank, led the losers, shedding 1.1%.

Ibnsina Pharma Co, which reported a marginal rise in first quarter net profit on Monday, plunged 6.6%.