Dubai: Most major stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Monday as investor appetite improved amid a growing view that the Omicron coronavirus variant may not cause severe illness.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index gained 0.5%, with Al Rajhi Bank rising 1%. Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it expected to post its first budget surplus in nearly a decade next year, as it plans to restrict public spending despite a surge in oil prices that helped to refill state coffers hammered by the pandemic.

Riyadh plans to reduce military spending next year by around 10% from its 2021 estimates, the budget showed, a sign that the cost of the military conflict in neighbouring Yemen has started to ease.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) advanced 2.4%, reversing much of the previous day’s around 3% loss posted after the final price for the sale of 120 million shares of the company was set at 100 riyals per share, the lower end of an indicative range of 100 to 116 riyals.

The kingdom’s Public Investment Fund is set to raise 12 billion riyals ($3.20 billion) through the sale of a 6% stake in STC.

Dubai’s main share index added 0.5%, led by a 1.8% gain in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 0.9% increase in sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank .

Dubai’s deputy ruler and finance minister Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed announced the listing of Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), the emirate’s media office reported on Saturday.

Investors remain optimistic regarding the market’s potential to grow with upcoming IPOs and the new volumes it could attract by shifting to a Monday-Friday trading week, better aligning the bourse with foreign markets, said Farah Mourad, Senior Market Analyst of XTB MENA.

The Qatari index was up 0.3%, helped by a 0.6% increase in Qatar Islamic Bank.

In Abu Dhabi, the index lost 0.4%, weighed down by a 2.3% fall in the country’s largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank .

SAUDI ARABIA rose 0.5% to 11,020

ABU DHABI fell 0.4% to 8,935

DUBAI added 0.5% to 3,247

QATAR gained 0.3% to 11,660

EGYPT lost 0.1% to 11,700

BAHRAIN eased 0.2% to 1,783

OMAN rose 0.5% to 4,007

KUWAIT dropped 0.3% to 7,59.