United Arab Emirates stocks led regional gains on Tuesday, with Dubai's market bolstered by a surge in Emirates NBD after it agreed to buy Turkish lender Denizbank for $3.2 billion. Emirates NBD has outperformed Dubai's market so far this year, rising 30.5 percent, compared to a 11.8 percent slump in the Dubai index. On Tuesday, the stock gained 8.4 percent, helping the index finish 0.9 percent up.
Emirates NBD, which already has a presence outside the United Arab Emirates in several countries, said the deal would add value for shareholders in the first year.
Arabtec Holding closed 3 percent up after the contractor said it had been awarded a 157 million dirham ($42.8 million) contract to build two phases of a development in the Uptown Cairo master project.
In Abu Dhabi, the index closed 1.5 percent higher. First Abu Dhabi Bank, the emirate's largest bank, gained 3.1 percent. Telecommunications operator Etisalat rose 0.9 percent.
After opening lower, the Saudi index recovered to close 0.6 percent higher. Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) and Al Rajhi Bank, two of the largest stocks on the index, finished up 3.4 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
In Qatar, the index closed 0.6 percent up. Commercial Bank finished 1.0 percent higher despite Moody's downgrading of the bank's long-term deposit ratings to A3 from A2 and its short-term deposit ratings to Prime-2 from Prime-1. The agency maintained the bank's outlook as negative.
Doha Bank's stock ended 1.9 percent higher. Moody's downgraded the bank's long-term deposit ratings to A3 from A2 and short-term deposit ratings to Prime-2 from Prime-1, while maintaining the outlook as negative.