AGL 40.22 Increased By ▲ 0.22 (0.55%)
AIRLINK 131.00 Increased By ▲ 1.47 (1.13%)
BOP 6.80 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.8%)
CNERGY 4.63 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DCL 9.00 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.67%)
DFML 43.80 Increased By ▲ 2.11 (5.06%)
DGKC 84.02 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (0.3%)
FCCL 33.10 Increased By ▲ 0.33 (1.01%)
FFBL 78.80 Increased By ▲ 3.33 (4.41%)
FFL 11.75 Increased By ▲ 0.28 (2.44%)
HUBC 110.90 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (0.32%)
HUMNL 14.77 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (1.44%)
KEL 5.45 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (1.11%)
KOSM 8.34 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.71%)
MLCF 39.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.1%)
NBP 61.00 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (1.18%)
OGDC 201.22 Increased By ▲ 1.56 (0.78%)
PAEL 26.83 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (0.68%)
PIBTL 7.87 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (2.74%)
PPL 161.00 Increased By ▲ 3.08 (1.95%)
PRL 26.84 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.41%)
PTC 18.55 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (0.49%)
SEARL 82.17 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-0.33%)
TELE 8.28 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.36%)
TOMCL 34.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.03%)
TPLP 9.06 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TREET 17.18 Decreased By ▼ -0.29 (-1.66%)
TRG 61.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.32 (-0.52%)
UNITY 27.50 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.26%)
WTL 1.42 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (2.9%)
BR100 10,556 Increased By 149.1 (1.43%)
BR30 32,059 Increased By 345.6 (1.09%)
KSE100 98,388 Increased By 1060.1 (1.09%)
KSE30 30,601 Increased By 409 (1.35%)
Markets

Most major Gulf markets gain as financials rise

  • On Sunday, the lender reported its first quarter net profit of 3.3 billion riyals ($906.22 million), down by 7% from a year earlier as it booked 1.4 billion riyals in "precautionary" loan-loss provisions.
Published April 12, 2021

Most major stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade on Monday, supported by gains in their financial stocks, although Saudi bucked the trend to trade lower.

The benchmark index in Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, fell 0.9%, with Saudi National Bank, the kingdom's top lender, declining 2%, while Banque Saudi Fransi retreated 3.2%.

The International Monetary Fund said on Sunday countries in the Middle East and Central Asia need to curb their financing requirements, as a surge in government debt, exacerbated by the pandemic, threatens recovery prospects.

Lower demand and a slump in commodity prices eroded state finances last year. In the Middle East and North Africa, fiscal deficits widened to 10.1% of GDP in 2020 from 3.8% of GDP in 2019.

The crisis led many countries to raise debt, partly taking advantage of abundant liquidity in the global markets, to afford extra spending needed to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

In Dubai, the benchmark index added 0.2%, helped by a 0.9% increase in Emirates NBD Bank and a 1.6% rise in budget airliner Air Arabia.

The Abu Dhabi index rose 0.3%, with telecoms firm Etisalat rising 0.9% and the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank up 0.3%.

In Qatar, the index increased 0.3%, led by a 1.1% gain in petrochemical firm Industries Qatar.

Elsewhere, Qatar National Bank (QNB), the biggest lender in the Gulf, added 0.6%.

On Sunday, the lender reported its first quarter net profit of 3.3 billion riyals ($906.22 million), down by 7% from a year earlier as it booked 1.4 billion riyals in "precautionary" loan-loss provisions.

However, QNB's total assets grew by 8% from a year earlier to 1.042 trillion riyals at the end of March, the bank said in a statement.

Comments

Comments are closed.