#Saudi Stocks Rise on Earnings Optimism: Inside EM - Bloomberg

Saudi Stocks Rise on Earnings Optimism: Inside EM - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark stock index was the biggest gainer in the Gulf as better-than-expected earnings fueled investor optimism and talks between Iran and the U.S. to end a years-long standoff progressed.

Gauges in Dubai, Israel and Egypt also gained while those in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman fell. Bahrain’s index little changed.

World powers advanced efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and the U.S. during key negotiations in Vienna. Meanwhile, senior officials from Saudi Arabia and Iran have been holding talks to repair relations between the two regional rivals, four years after they broke off diplomatic ties, the Financial Times reported.

“The news of Saudi-Iran meeting is encouraging, but it could just be a beginning step,” said Joice Mathew, the head of equity research at United Securities in Muscat. “Rather than Iran, I think the focus is shifting to results season. Most of the results so far have been good, so I guess it is the results optimism.”

Companies including Advanced Petrochemical Co. and United Electronics Co. reported first-quarter results that exceeded estimates in Saudi Arabia, where the earnings factor is more pronounced, Mathew said. Companies in Oman also announced results the market is cheerful about, he said.