(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru Editing by Bernadette Baum)
By Ateeq Shariff
April 30 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's stock market ended
higher on Sunday in response to Friday's rise in oil prices,
while the Egyptian index was in the red on profit-taking.
Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets
- rose over 2% on Friday after energy firms posted positive
earnings and U.S. data showed crude output was declining while
fuel demand was growing.
EIA data this week showed U.S. crude oil and gasoline
inventories fell more than expected last week as demand for the
motor fuel picked up ahead of the peak summer driving season. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index added 0.3%, with
Retal Urban Development Co advancing 2.9% and Dr
Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services closing 2.8%
higher.
Elsewhere, oil giant Saudi Aramco added 0.8%.
In Qatar, the index added 0.4%, with petrochemical
maker Industries Qatar rising 1.5%.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index declined
0.7%, with El Sewedy Electric sliding about 3%.
Egypt is strongly considering approving the currencies of
its commodity trade partners, including China, India and Russia
to try to lessen the need for dollars, Supply Minister Ali
Moselhy told reporters on Saturday.
SAUDI ARABIA rose 0.3% to 11,308
QATAR gained 0.4% to 10,181
EGYPT lost 0.7% to 17,668
BAHRAIN was up 0.5% to 1,904
OMAN lost 0.4% to 4,718
KUWAIT eased 0.4% to 7,913
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