Higher oil prices boost Middle East markets

09 Feb, 2022

Major Gulf bourses rose on Wednesday, tracking a rally in global peers amid higher oil prices, with the Qatari index rising more than 1% as investors found comfort in a strong earnings season.

Asian shares and European stock futures advanced after a strong session on Wall Street, while US treasury yields held near multi-year highs ahead of a closely watched inflation data this week.

Oil prices climbed as industry data showed an unexpected drop in US crude and fuel stocks, offsetting concerns of a possible rise in supplies from Iran.

Major Gulf bourses end mixed in trade; Dubai index ends up 0.8%

The Qatari index rose as much as 1.3%.

Shares of Industries Qatar QPSC jumped as much as 8.7% after the petrochemical firm reported a sharp rise in annual profit on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index was trading 0.1% higher, as shares of financials and communication services companies gained.

Dubai's main share index edged 0.1% higher, driven by gains in heavyweight Emaar Properties and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB).

DIB, the United Arab Emirates' largest Islamic lender, sold $750 million in five-year senior unsecured sukuk on Tuesday after the debt sale drew more than $1.6 billion in orders, a bank document showed.

Among other gainers, logistics firm Aramex advanced 1% ahead of its earnings announcement later in the day.

In Abu Dhabi, the index was flat.

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