DUBAI: Abu Dhabi's stock market reached an all-time high on Sunday, led by gains in top lender, while the Saudi index pulled back from a 15-year high. In Abu Dhabi, the indexADI> advanced 0.9%, hitting a record high, with the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank rising 2.1%.
Emirati banks' assets are expected to grow 8% in 2022, Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV channel cited the head of the United Arab Emirates Banks Federation Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair as saying on Sunday. The UAE economy will reap benefits from the world fair Expo 2020 for about nine years, he said, according to the channel.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index fell 0.8%, with Al Rajhi Bank declining 3%, ending a five-day winning streak. On Sunday, Al Rajhi reported a net profit of 3.79 billion riyals ($1.01 billion) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 2.66 billion riyals in the same period last year.
But Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co climbed 2.8%, after it swung to a quarterly net profit. Meanwhile, the kingdom wants to be the biggest supplier of hydrogen, the country's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al-Saud said on Sunday.
Dubai's main share index gained 0.8%, led by a 8.7% jump in logistic firm Aramex. In the previous session, Aramex surged 14.9%, its biggest intraday gain since Jan. 2009, after a direct deal worth 1.41 billion dirhams ($383.90 million) for its 295 million shares.
On the other hand, Union Properties slid 4.8%. The United Arab Emirates attorney general has announced an investigation into allegations of financial violations by the chairman and other officials of Union Properties, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing state-news agency WAM. The Qatari index closed 0.4% lower, hit by a 2.4% fall in petrochemical maker Industries Qatar.
Employers in Qatar will be required to provide health insurance coverage for expatriates and their families under a new law issued by the emir this week, a senior Qatari official said on Thursday. Shares of Qatar Insurance finished 1.4% higher.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index added 0.5%, as most of the stocks on the index were in positive territory. Egypt's economy will grow 5.1% in the fiscal year that ends in June 2022, but accelerate to 5.5% in each of the following two years as tourism continues to rebound and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic wane, a Reuters poll showed.
SAUDI ARABIA fell 0.8% to 11,848
ABU DHABI gained 0.9% to 7,949
DUBAI rose 0.8% to 2,881
QATAR lost 0.4% to 11,821
EGYPT up 0.5% to 11,186
BAHRAIN was up 0.7% to 1,736
OMAN rose 0.2% to 3,991
KUWAIT added 0.3% to 7,559.
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