Global mood lifts most of Gulf

Egypt extends losses

DUBAI, Nov 25, (RTRS): All major Gulf bourses rose on Monday, taking a cue from global equity markets as investors turned optimistic about some progress in US-China trade talks, but Egypt remained pressured due to selloff in blue chip stocks.

A Chinese state-backed newspaper reported that Beijing and Washington were “very close” to an initial trade agreement, adding to optimism from Friday, when the presidents of both countries reiterated their desire for a deal.

In Saudi Arabia, the benchmark index edged up 0.2%, driven by a 2.9% hike in Saudi British Bank and a 0.5% increase in Al Rajhi Bank.

In the previous session, the index snapped a five-day rally, which was triggered following a lending boom related to Saudi Aramco’s public listing. Saudi banks are marketing loans to help locals subscribe Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO), with some offering four times the usual lending limit, Reuters reported citing two financial sources.

The jump in lending has prompted Saudi Arabia’s central bank to monitor banking sector liquidity on a daily basis assuring that there have not been any liquidity issues so far. Also, rating agency Moody’s on Monday said that the outlook for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banks is stable except for Oman. However, the Oman’s index traded flat.

The Abu Dhabi index closed up 1%, led by a 0.7% rise in the country’s largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank and a 1.2% gain in telecoms firm Etisalat. In Dubai, the index ended 0.7% as all its real estate stocks rose with Emaar Properties gaining 1.2%, while its unit Emaar Development was up 2.5%. Among other stocks, logistic company Aramex advanced 2.8%. On Sunday,

Dubai posted a 2.1% year on year economic growth in the first half of 2019, with real estate activity having grown also by 2.1% in the same period and contributed nearly 7.4% to the total GDP.

The Qatari index was up 0.6%, snapping three straight days of losses, with Commercial Bank increasing 2.3%, while Qatar International Islamic Bank added 1.8%.

Outside of Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index dropped 0.5%, with 24 of its 30 stocks declining. The country’s largest lender Commercial International Bank fell 0.5% and Talaat Mostafa slid 3.1%.

Saudi Arabia

The index edged up 0.2% to 8,014 points

Abu Dhabi

The index gained 1% to 5,091 points

Dubai

The index added 0.7% to 2,705 points

Qatar

The index was up 0.6% to 10,311 points

Egypt

The index down 0.5% to 13,974 points

Bahrain

The index increased 1% to 1,521 points

Oman

The index was flat at 4,083 points

Kuwait

The index rose 1.3% to 6,421 points