Most Gulf markets rebound; Saudi bucks trend

• The Abu Dhabi index gained 1%, buoyed by a 3.3% rise in the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Most major bourses in the Gulf rebounded on Thursday, led by gains in banking stocks as traders bought on dips, but Saudi Arabia bucked the trend.

The Abu Dhabi index gained 1%, buoyed by a 3.3% rise in the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), however, fell 0.5%. After the session, the lender reported an 84% plunge in first-quarter net profit as it took 1.072 billion dirhams ($292 million) in impairments on debt exposure to troubled hospital operator NMC Health and Finablr.

In Dubai, the benchmark index edged up 0.2%, supported by a 2.6% rise in Emirates NBD Bank.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index fell 0.4%, with oil giant Saudi Aramco losing 0.8% and Saudi Arabian Mining Co sliding 3.3%.

Aramco is about to finalise a $10 billion loan with a group of roughly 10 banks as the world's largest oil producer seeks cash amid record low oil prices, Reuters reported citing three sources familiar with the matter.

Aramco is raising the loan to back its acquisition of a 70% stake in Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, a deal worth almost $70 billion.

SABIC was up 0.1%.

Elsewhere, Arab Sea Information System dropped 4.9% after it posted losses in the first quarter of 2020.

The Qatari index was up 0.5%, as Qatar Islamic Bank added 0.9%.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index declined 1.1% as most of the stocks on the index were in the red, including tobacco monopoly Eastern Company, which was down 1%.

SAUDI ARABIA          lost 0.4% to 6,629 points

ABU DHABI            gained 1% to 4,062 points

DUBAI                  was up 0.2% to 1,923 points

QATAR                added 0.5% to 8,799 points

EGYPT                  down 1.1% to 10,177 points

BAHRAIN              fell 0.7% to 1,280 points

OMAN                 was up 0.3% to 3,484 points

KUWAIT               dropped 1.1% to 5,230 points