Financials elevate most of Gulf stocks, Egypt up again

Major Gulf stocks rose on Wednesday, mostly led by financials with Saudi extending gains for a fourth straight session, while gains in blue-chips bolstered Egypt. In Saudi, the index ended 0.7% higher, with National Commercial Bank and Riyad Bank adding 3.8% and 1.7%, respectively. They said they had ended preliminary merger talks in separate stock exchange filings on Monday.

Saudi Aramco's shares meanwhile fell 2.8% to 36.7 riyals ($9.79) on the first day of their inclusion in the MSCI emerging markets index. The oil giant's shares were also included in the Saudi Tadawul index on Wednesday and will join the FTSE global benchmark on Thursday.

Egypt's blue-chip index rebounded for a second day, increasing 1.2% with 24 of 30 stocks rising. Commercial International Bank, the country's largest lender, jumped 2.3% and Talaat Mostafa advanced 2.4%. Exchange data showed foreign investors were net buyers of Egyptian stocks on Wednesday.

Dubai's index rose 1.1% as Emaar Properties gained 2%, and Emirates NBD was up 1.2%. Dubai Islamic Bank rose 0.4% after saying it had received shareholder approval for the acquisition of unlisted Dubai-based Noor Bank.

The acquisition will make the United Arab Emirates' largest sharia-compliant bank one of the top Islamic banks in the world, with total assets worth 275 billion dirhams ($74.87 billion), up from 230 billion dirhams at the end of September.

The Abu Dhabi index closed up 0.7%, with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) adding 1.2% and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank gaining 1%. On Monday, FAB said it had further expanded its network in Saudi Arabia by opening a branch in Jeddah. Qatar was closed for a public holiday.