Major Gulf stock markets rose on the back of stronger oil prices on Tuesday, while Egypt began rebounding after a three-week bout of heavy profit-taking. Brent crude jumped nearly 6 percent on Monday to $58.24 a barrel, its highest since March 27, although it partially dropped back to $57.52 on Tuesday.
That was enough to trigger a 2.1 percent rise in the Saudi stock index to 8,802 points as daily turnover more than doubled. The index rose further from chart support at the March low of 8,497 points, which was tested and held on Sunday, and may now be at least a short-term bottom for the market.
Dar Al Arkan, the most heavily traded stock, climbed 5.5 percent and Emaar Economic City jumped 9.7 percent. Both property developers were bouncing after suffering steep falls since late March, when authorities said they planned to tax undeveloped land.
Saudi stocks rose across many sectors, with petrochemical firm Saudi Kayan up 3.4 percent and telecommunications operator Zain Saudi gaining 2.4 percent.
Dubai's market rose only modestly in early trade but added to its gain in response to the Saudi surge. The Dubai index rose 1.8 percent, mostly on the back of low-priced speculative shares.
Gulf Finance House jumped 8.6 percent in its heaviest trade since January 2014, after a 15 percent leap on Monday.
The Qatari index climbed 0.9 percent as petrochemical producer Industries Qatar, sensitive to oil prices, gained 2.4 percent and Barwa Real Estate rose 1.3 percent.
Kuwait's market edged up 0.3 percent. Apart from Gulf Finance House, which followed its Dubai-listed shares up, Ithmaar Bank was a big gainer; the Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank rose 3.4 percent. The stock has been strong since April 1 when the Gulf Daily news quoted chief executive Ahmed Abdul Rahim as saying the bank expected to return to profitability this year.
The Egyptian stock index, which sank on Monday to 15 percent below February's multi-year peak, rebounded 2.5 percent on Tuesday, although modest turnover was a negative technical sign.
Among major gainers, Global Telecom rose 3.9 percent to 3.43 Egyptian pounds, breaking the end-March peak of 3.39 pounds. This triggered a minor double bottom formed by the lows since late March and pointing up to 3.58 pounds.
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