Stock News: Gulf Markets Extend Gains After Oil Edges Up

Gulf stock markets rose on Thursday after oil rebounded slightly from its Wednesday low and several companies made positive announcements.

Supported by a fall in U.S. crude oil inventories, Brent futures bounced around $51 per barrel on Thursday after briefly dropping below $50 in the previous session.

Saudi Arabia’s stock index climbed 1.8 per cent in a broad rally. Shares in Saudi British Bank (SABB) jumped 2.1 per cent after it received approval to raise its capital by 50 per cent to 15 billion riyals ($4 billion) through a bonus share issue.

Banque Saudi Fransi added 1.6 per cent after its board recommended a cash dividend of 0.5 riyal per share for the second half of 2014. The lender paid no dividend in the same period last year and analysts had expected, on average, just 0.16 riyal.

Dubai’s equities index rose 3.1 per cent and shares in bourse operator Dubai Financial Market surged 6.6 per cent after economy minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri said the United Arab Emirates government would favour a merger of the main Abu Dhabi and Dubai bourses, although the decision was up to the exchanges themselves.

Qatar’s benchmark jumped 3.5 percent. Gulf International Services surged 4.9 percent after its board recommended a 5.5 riyal 2014 dividend, up from 2.0 riyals a year earlier. The firm said its business, which includes providing services to companies such as Qatar Petroleum, was unaffected by lower oil prices.

Other Gulf markets were also positive; Abu Dhabi’s bourse rose 1.6 percent, while Kuwait and Oman edged up 0.8 percent each.

Egypt’s index rose 1.6 per cent. Developer Talaat Moustafa Group was one of the main supports, adding 2.5 per cent to 9.95 Egyptian pounds after NBK Capital recommended it as a “buy” with a fair value of 11.80 pounds.

“Our positive outlook on the stock mainly stems from the company’s massive land bank and strong visibility over a prolonged period, sustained high demand in the Egyptian real estate market, TMG’s attractive positioning in the mid-income segment, and the company’s healthy balance sheet and cash flows,” it said in a note.