Tuesday 16 March 2021

MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf stocks gain on global rally; Egypt's shares ease | Nasdaq

MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf stocks gain on global rally; Egypt's shares ease | Nasdaq

Most Gulf markets ended higher on Tuesday, tracking global shares, as investors anticipated the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks meeting this week will keep policies accommodative to help drive a post-pandemic global economic recovery.

MSCI's All Country World Index, which tracks stocks across 49 countries, rose 0.3% to its highest since Feb. 22. .MIWD00000PUS.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index .TASI rose 0.2%, with Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company 2350.SE advancing 5.8%, while Banque Saudi Fransi 1050.SE gained 2.8%.

Elsewhere, Almarai 2280.SE also rose 1%. The Gulf's largest dairy company said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy frozen bakery item producer Bakemart in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for an enterprise value of 93.5 million dirham ($25.46 million).

Meanwhile, the kingdom's economy shrank 3.9% year on year in the fourth quarter but rose 2.5% from the previous three months, according to data on Tuesday that showed an upturn from the depths of the coronavirus pandemic towards the end of 2020.

In Dubai, the main share index .DFMGI edged up 0.1%, helped by a 1.3% increase in Emirates NBD Bank ENBD.DU.

However, the index's gains were limited by losses at blue-chip developer Emaar Properties EMAR.DU.

In previous sessions, Emaar Properties and peers registered sharp gains after the Dubai government on Saturday announced its plan to increase tourism and hotel capacity by 134% over the next 20 years.

The Abu Dhabi index .ADI climbed 0.7%, with telecoms major Etisalat ETISALAT.AD gaining 1.5%.

Qatar's index .QSI added 0.5%, extending gains for a third consecutive session, led by a 3% rise in Commercial Bank COMB.QA.

But, Doha Bank DOBK.QA retreated over 2% as the stock traded ex-dividend.

No comments:

Post a Comment