MIDEAST STOCKS-Major Gulf markets gain in early trade | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Major Gulf markets gain in early trade | Reuters:

Major stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade on Tuesday, with property shares supporting the Saudi index.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index gained 0.4%, with Jabal Omar Development advancing 3.1% and oil behemoth Saudi Aramco adding 0.7%.

Dubai’s main share index rose 0.3%, helped by a 1.3% gain in logistic firm Aramex and a 1.4% increase in shopping malls operator Emaar Malls.

In Abu Dhabi, the index added 0.3%, with the country’s largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank rising 0.2%.

The United Arab Emirates federal government posted a second-quarter budget surplus of around 9.75 billion dirhams ($2.65 billion), state news agency WAM said on Monday, up from a surplus of 1.8 billion dirhams in the first quarter.

Revenues in the second quarter were at 34.744 billion dirhams and expenditures were at 24.997 billion dirhams, WAM said, citing a finance ministry report.

The Qatari index edged up 0.1%, driven by a 1.4% gain in Commercial Bank.

The lender has hired banks to arrange a potential issuance of five-year U.S. dollar-denominated bonds, a document showed on Monday.