MIDEAST STOCKS- #AbuDhabi hits multi-year peak, blue-chip banks lift #Qatar | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Abu Dhabi hits multi-year peak, blue-chip banks lift Qatar | Reuters:

The Abu Dhabi stock market climbed sharply on Thursday for its biggest one-day gain in nearly three years while Qatar was lifted by its blue-chip banks to its best day in seven months.

The Abu Dhabi index rose 3.7 percent. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the United Arab Emirates' biggest bank, surged 6.5 percent and Emirates Telecommunications added 5.2 percent.

With FTSE and S&P index rebalancing ataking place across emerging markets on Thursday there were sizeable inflows into heavyweights First Abu Dhabi and Emirates Telecommunications, which account for about 70 percent of the Abu Dhabi index, said Mohamad Al Hajj, head of MENA equity strategy for EFG Hermes.