SAUDI ARABIA rose 1.2% to 11,257
QATAR gained 0.3% to 10,673
EGYPT lost 0.4% to 17,235
BAHRAIN eased 0.3% to 1,900
OMAN down 0.1% to 4,717
KUWAIT was flat at 7,778
($1 = 3.7501 riyals)
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru)
By Ateeq Shariff
May 7 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's stock market ended
higher on Sunday boosted by a slew of strong earnings, although
the Egyptian bourse extended losses.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index gained 1.2%, buoyed
by a 6% jump in Saudi British Bank , its biggest
intraday gain since Dec. 2021, following a steep rise in
first-quarter earnings.
The lender reported a quarterly net profit of 1.77 billion
riyals ($471.99 million) up from 1 billion riyals year ago.
Among other gainers, oil giant Saudi Aramco advanced 2%.
Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets
- jumped on Friday on signs of economic strength, but registered
their third weekly decline in a row.
The kingdom's economy grew by 3.9% year-on-year in the first
quarter of 2023, according to initial government estimates of
real gross domestic product published on Sunday.
In Qatar, the index added 0.3%, with Qatar Islamic
Bank climbing 2.7%.
However, the index's gains were limited by a 1.1% fall in
petrochemical maker Industries Qatar ahead of its
earnings announcement.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe closed 1.43% higher on Friday as strong U.S. jobs data
brightened the economic outlook and traders pared expectations
of Federal Reserve easing after a long spate of rate hikes. Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index fell
0.4%, falling for a fifth consecutive session, with tobacco
monopoly Eastern Company losing 1.8%.
Fitch downgraded Egypt to 'B' on Saturday with the outlook
as negative. The ratings agency said external financial risk has
increased.
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