Most Gulf bourses gain, Saudi Aramco's Q2 profit soars
- Dubai's main share index dropped 0.3%, hit by a 0.4% fall in Emirates NBD Bank and a 0.2% decrease in Sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank
Most major stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade on Sunday, supported by a slew of corporate earnings, although Dubai bucked the trend to trade lower.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index edged up 0.1%, with Al Rajhi Bank gaining 0.9% and Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services rising 3.1% following an increase in its quarterly net profit.
However, the index's gains were capped by losses at the kingdom's biggest lender Saudi National Bank, which declined 1.9%.
The bank reported a higher second-quarter net profit, however, saw a decrease sequentially in earnings.
Oil behemoth Saudi Aramco added 0.1%.
Aramco reported a near four-fold rise in second-quarter net profit on Sunday, beating expectations and boosted by higher oil prices and a recovery in oil demand.
Aramco's net profit rose to 95.47 billion riyals ($25.46 billion) for the quarter to June 30 from 24.62 billion riyals a year earlier.
In Abu Dhabi, the index advanced 1.1%, buoyed by a 4.6% jump in conglomerate International Holding and a 0.4% increase in top lender First Abu Dhabi Bank.
The Qatari benchmark added 0.1%, with Qatar National Bank, the Gulf's largest lender, rising 0.6% and petrochemical firm Industries Qatar was up 0.4%.
Elsewhere, Mesaieed Petrochemical climbed 1.3%, after reporting a net profit of 909.4 million riyals ($248.61 million), up from 135.1 million riyals a year earlier.
Dubai's main share index dropped 0.3%, hit by a 0.4% fall in Emirates NBD Bank and a 0.2% decrease in Sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank.
Among other decliners, Aramex retreated 0.6%.
On Thursday, the courier firm said quarterly net profit fell 31% due to the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global supply chains.
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