Major Gulf markets rise as Aramco lifts #Saudi index | Reuters

Major Gulf markets rise as Aramco lifts Saudi index | Reuters

Saudi Arabia’s stock market rose in early trade on Tuesday, supported by gains in Saudi Aramco after the oil giant posted a quarterly profit slump in line with analysts’ estimate, while the Qatari index was on track to end three sessions of losses.

The kingdom's benchmark index .TASI edged up 0.2%, with the world's top oil producing company Saudi Aramco 2222.SE rising 0.6% after Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser pointed to early signs of recovery in the third quarter.

The company’s quarterly profit was hit as the coronavirus crisis continued to choke demand and weigh on crude prices.

In Qatar, the index .QSI gained 0.9%, as most of the stocks were in positive territory, including petrochemical firm Industries Qatar IQCD.QA, which advanced 1.7%.

Dubai's main share index .DFMGI rose 0.3%, with Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) DISB.DU increasing 0.5%. The sharia-compliant lender on Monday completed the integration of Noor Bank with successful migration of all banking relations into DIB.

Among gainers, Dubai Investments DINV.DU traded up 0.9%, after the company reported a net profit of 213.1 million dirhams ($58.02 million) in the third quarter, up from 105.5 million dirhams a year earlier.

The Abu Dhabi index .ADI added 0.7%, led by a 1.1% rise in First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) FAB.AD and a 0.2% increase in telecoms firm Etisalat ETISALAT.AD.

FAB, the country’s largest lender, announced its plan to carve out its existing payments business into a fully owned subsidiary with regional growth ambitions.