Oman’s main equities index led Middle-East gains as a rare cross-Gulf bank tie-up propelled the National Bank of Oman’s shares higher.
The company was the biggest gainer on Oman’s benchmark index on Sunday, after Commercial Bank of Qatar QSC said it was looking to build a controlling stake in the firm. Qatari banks are expanding across the region, spurred on by the normalization of ties between Doha and neighboring Gulf states in January.
“We believe that the National Bank of Oman has taken aggressive provisions in 2020 and the earnings are likely to be on the growth track,” Joice Mathew and Majid Lawati at United Securities in Muscat wrote in a client note. Given Oman’s improving macroeconomic outlook and NBO’s growth profile, the analysts said CBQ’s offer significantly underrates NBO’s future growth prospects.
Meanwhile, benchmark stock indexes in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Israel also gained, while those in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain were little changed.
- Muscat Securities Market Index climbs as much as 0.8%
- Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rises for a ninth day, the longest rising streak since Feb. 16
- Al Rajhi Bank +0.4%; Saudi Telecom Co +0.9%; Saudi Research & Media Group +3.7% at 10:12 a.m. in Riyadh
- Abu Dhabi-based International Holding rises as much as 2.3%, touching a fresh record high
- Dubai Financial Market General Index climbs 0.5% at 11:21 a.m. local time
- Emirates NBD +0.7%; Dubai Islamic Bank +0.6%; Damac Properties +2.1%
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