Major Gulf stock markets ended higher on Tuesday, fueled by rising oil prices, as investors bet on OPEC+ extending its production cuts at Thursday's meeting, although Qatar's index bucked the trend with a flat close.
Oil prices, a major driver for Gulf economies, were trading at $73.01 a barrel, up 1.7% by 0114 GMT.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index (.TASI), opens new tab advanced 0.7% on broad-based gains across nearly all sectors. The top gainers included Al Taiseer Group TALCO Industrial (4143.SE), opens new tab, which jumped 3.4%, while ACWA Power (2082.SE), opens new tab rose 1.5%.
Saudi National Bank (1180.SE), opens new tab, the kingdom's largest lender by assets, added 1.9%, while Saudi Arabian Mining (Ma'aden) (1211.SE), opens new tab climbed nearly 2%.
Meanwhile, United International Holding Company (4083.SE), opens new tab surged 30% in market debut to 171.6 riyals compared to IPO price of 132 riyals.
Separately, Saudi Arabia's non-oil business sector experienced its fastest expansion in four months during November, driven by a surge in demand.
Qatar's benchmark index (.QSI), opens new tab closed flat, its third consecutive session in the red. Industrial and telecom stocks weighed heavily on the market, with Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA), opens new tab and Ooredoo (ORDS.QA), opens new tab dropping over 1%.
QatarEnergy, the state-owned petroleum giant, signed a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales and purchase agreement with Shell on Monday to supply LNG to China.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's benchmark index (.EGX30), opens new tab extended its winning streak to four consecutive days, rising 0.2%. Commercial International Bank (CIB) (COMI.CA), opens new tab, the country's largest private bank, added 0.7%, and Ezz Steel (ESRS.CA), opens new tab advanced 2.2%.
Among other stocks, Acrowmisr for Metallic Scaffoldings and Frameworks (ACRO.CA), opens new tab gained nearly 2% following a more than 80% jump in third-quarter profit.
Markets in the United Arab Emirates were closed for a public holiday.
