Most Gulf bourses rise in early trade; Qatar falls

Most stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade on Thursday, with the Dubai index set to register its fifth weekly gain.

Dubai's main share index gained 0.7%, boosted by a 5.5% jump in budget airliner Air Arabia, after it swung to a profit for the third quarter.

Blue-chip developer Emaar Properties gained 0.8%, after it said all conditions for merger with its unit Emaar Malls have been met.

Shares of Emaar Malls advanced 1.3%; they will be suspended from trading starting Nov.16.

The all-share deal to make Emaar Malls a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emaar Properties was announced in March.

Union Properties dropped 2.1%, on course to extend losses for a third session.

On Tuesday, the company said its chairman, Khalifa Hassan al-Hammadi, was dismissed from the board alongside three other members after a shareholders meeting.

The announcement came a day after the company in a bourse filing shared a letter from the United Arab Emirates' Public Prosecution, which ordered the arrest of al-Hammadi pending investigations.

The UAE attorney general announced the investigation in October into allegations of financial violations by the chairman and other officials of Union Properties, state news agency WAM had reported.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index added 0.1%, helped by a 0.4% rise in Al Rajhi Bank.

Separately, the kingdom's Almunajem Foods announced its intention to go public followed by a stock market listing.

In Abu Dhabi, the index gained 0.3%, hitting a record high, with telecoms firm Etisalat rising 2%.

Abu Dhabi has proposed a regulatory framework to allow the listing of blank-cheque companies, potentially opening the door to a slew of Gulf-focused deals involving special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

The proposal led by the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Department of Economic Development has been submitted to the Securities and Commodities Authority, the ADX said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Qatari index eased 0.1%, with petrochemical maker Industries Qatar falling 0.8%.