MIDEAST STOCKS Most Gulf markets muted, #Saudi stocks gain on upbeat heavyweight earnings | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS Most Gulf markets muted, Saudi stocks gain on upbeat heavyweight earnings | Reuters

Major Gulf stock markets were little changed in early trade on Wednesday, with Saudi Arabian shares edging up on upbeat corporate earnings by heavyweights.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) was trading nearly 0.1% higher in early trade.

The Saudi National Bank (1180.SE) was up 0.6%, while Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) added 0.1%, extending gains from Tuesday after the state oil producer reported 30% increase in quarterly profit. read more

Arriyadh Development (4150.SE) jumped 4.6% as its first-quarter profit more than tripled from a year ago.

However, Saudi market gains were capped by a 0.5% slip in Saudi Telecom (7010.SE), which traded ex-dividend.

Dubai's benchmark index (.DFMGI) edged up 0.2%. Dubai Islamic Bank (DISB.DU) gained 0.2%, while the blue-chip developer Emaar Properties (EMAR.DU) was down 0.3%.

Ajman Bank (AJBNK.DU) rose as much as 2.4% after it posted higher first-quarter profit.

Dubai's tourism chief on Tuesday said he was very optimistic that business and leisure travellers would return this year, though the pandemic made it difficult to predict exactly how many. read more

Dubai, a trade and tourism hub which has kept its borders open since reopening last July, saw 1.26 million visitors in the first quarter, while last year the number of visitors fell 67% to 5.5 million.

The Abu Dhabi index (.ADI) was flat. Emirates Telecommunications Group (ETISALAT.AD) lost 0.1%, while Waha Capital jumped 3.5% after reporting first-quarter profit of 111 million dirhams ($30.22 million), compared with a 297 million dirhams loss for a year earlier.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA.AD) gained 0.7% as it posted 1.4 billin dirhams profit in the first quarer.

Qatari index (.QSI) was up 0.1%. Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA) and Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA) both gained 0.2%.