By Shamsuddin Mohd
March 6 (Reuters) - Most Gulf stock markets closed higher on Monday,
shrugging of a decline in oil prices, with Dubai leading the gains after the
biggest ever intraday increase in Emaar Development , while the
Egyptian index extended losses.
Oil prices, a major driver for Gulf economies, fell on Monday, with Brent
crude futures trading down $1.30, or 1.5%, at $84.53 a barrel at 1210
GMT.
The demand concern could impact oil prices after China set
lower-than-expected growth targets, said Farah Mourad, senior market analyst at
XTB MENA.
"The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank are expected to adopt
more hawkish monetary policies"
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index ended 0.4% higher, extending its
rally to a fifth session. The index was lifted by gains in health care and
banking stocks, with Dr. Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services increasing
1.7% and Riyad Bank climbing 2.5%..
Dubai's main share index climbed 1.1%, boosted by a 14.9% surge in
Emaar Development , its biggest intraday gain ever and the surge
added 2.9 billion dirham ($789.67 million) to the company's market value.
The real estate developer on Monday announced a cash dividend of 52 fils per
share for the fiscal year 2022.
The road tolls operator Salik was also up 4.7%.
Abu Dhabi's share index rose 0.9%, its fifth positive day in a
row, lifted by a 1.4% hike in UAE's top lender First Abu Dhabi Bank .
Conglomerate International Holding Co (IHC) gained 0.8% as it
intends to invest in Presight AI Holding's initial public offering (IPO).
IHC's unit Alpha Dhabi Holding also advanced more than 4%.
The Qatari index , which traded after a session's break, gained 0.7%,
as most of its constituent stocks moved in positive territory, including
petrochemical maker Industries Qatar , which was up 1.4%.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index , closed slightly lower to
0.1%, extending its losses to a third consecutive session, with Egypt Kuwait
Holding shedding 2.6%.
SAUDI ARABIA gained 0.4% to 10,448
ABU DHABI up 0.9% to 9,997
DUBAI climbed 1.1% to 3,456
QATAR hiked 0.7% to 10,695
EGYPT eased 0.1% to 16,804
BAHRAIN was up 0.1% to 1,912
OMAN fell 0.4% 4,833
KUWAIT eased 0.1% to 8,167
($1 = 3.6727 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Shamsuddin Mohd in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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