Gains in US stocks lift Gulf indexes

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf stock markets gained on Thursday as the sharp rebound on Wall Street overnight and Brent oil’s recovery from below $50 a barrel lifted investor sentiment.

Tadawul index rose 0.5 per cent with Al Rajhi Bank adding 1.1 per cent. Riyad Bank climbed for a fourth straight day, adding 1.3 per cent. The stock has been buoyed by news of merger discussions with National Commercial Bank, the kingdom’s biggest lender by assets, which edged down 0.3 per cent.

Saudi British Bank increased 1.4 per cent after its board proposed a higher dividend of 1.0 riyal per share for the second half of the year, after 0.96 riyal for the first half. Samba Financial Group gained 1.7 per cent after proposing a dividend of 1.0 riyal for the same period.

Saudi Cable, which jumped its 10 per cent daily limit in the last session, added a further 3.4 per cent in its heaviest trade for a month. On Wednesday, it said it reached a final settlement with creditors on 313.6 million riyals ($83.60m) of loans.

The Dubai index was flat but some real estate shares gained, with Emaar Properties rising 2.1 per cent and Emaar Development up 0.8 per cent.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange extended Wednesday’s modest gains and ended up 0.2 per cent.

Eshraq Properties recorded the highest volume, closing lower at Dh0.43.

Qatar’s index rose 0.6 per cent with six of seven banks gaining. Qatar Islamic Bank increased 1.6 per cent and Doha Bank climbed 1.8 per cent; it said on Wednesday it had raised a $525m syndicated loan.

United Development gained 3.0 per cent in its heaviest trade since March 2017.

On Wednesday, the firm said it finalised a sale agreement with an unnamed strategic Qatari investor for a plot at The Pearl Qatar project, for which it is the master developer.

Rami Jamal, portfolio manager at Amwal in Doha, said the deal appeared to solidify investor confidence that the company would keep an attractive dividend policy.

Its dividend yield is 8.7 per cent and price/book ratio under 0.5, Refinitiv data shows.

Egypt’s blue-chip index, which had snapped a threeday losing streak on Wednesday, rose 1.2 per cent.