Most major Gulf bourses fall, Emirates NBD lifts #Dubai | Reuters

Most major Gulf bourses fall, Emirates NBD lifts Dubai | Reuters

Most stock markets in the Gulf were slightly lower on Thursday, mirroring volatility in crude prices, while Dubai bucked the trend as its largest lender reported strong earnings.

Crude prices - a key catalyst for Gulf's financial market - were volatile on Thursday ahead of the OPEC+ meeting and the looming European Union ban on Russian refined products.

Brent crude were up 3 cents, or 0.03%, to $86.15 per barrel by 0742 GMT.

Abu Dhabi's benchmark index (.FTFADGI) retreated 1%, weighed down by a 4.3% decline in UAE's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD) as the bank reported a 26% drop in fourth-quarter net profit, although it had a 7% rise in 2022 net profit.

The lender missed analyst estimates of 2.95 billion dirhams ($803.22 million) in fourth-quarter net profit, according to Refinitiv data.

The lender also decreased annual cash dividend by 26% to 52 fils per share from 2021.

Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB.AD), however, jumped 4% after the bank posted 27% growth in full-year net profit to 650.9 million dirhams ($177.23 million).

Benchmark Qatari index (.QSI) edged down 0.2%, breaking a five-day winning streak, as most of the index constituents were in negative territory.

Index heavyweight Islamic lender Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA) and petrochemical maker Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA) declined 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.

Separately, Qatar is in talks to acquire a stake from French company TotalEnergies' (TTEF.PA) $27 billion cluster of energy projects in Iraq, three sources told Reuters.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index (.TASI) dropped 0.2%, on course to snap a five-day rally, with luxury property developer Retal Urban Development (4322.SE) falling 0.7% and Riyad Bank losing 1.4%.

Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI), however, gained 0.1%, supported by a 1.2% hike in Dubai's largest lender Emirates NBD bank (ENBD.DU) as the lender reported a 40% jump in 2022 net profit to 13 billion dirhams ($3.54 billion), helped by higher interest rates and transaction volumes.

Emirates NBD also proposed a 20% increase in dividend to 60 fils a share.