Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf markets gain on earnings and oil

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Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Thursday, helped by corporate earnings announcements and rising oil prices.

Dubai's main share index gained 0.7%, led by a 2.8% rise in toll operator Salik and a 1.8% increase in Emirates NBD Bank (ENBD). ENBD, Dubai's biggest lender by assets, reported a 23% increase in third-quarter net profit to 6.4 billion dirham ($1.74 billion), beating analysts' expectations of 5.54 billion dirham, according to mean estimates compiled by LSEG.

Elsewhere, Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation advanced 1.9%, a day after the firm signed a contract to construct its second district cooling plant in Jumeirah village.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index rose 0.2%, helped by a 8.2% surge in Tourism Enterprise Company (Shams). On Sunday, Shams' shareholders approved amending the company's share par value to 10 riyals per share from 0.50 riyal.

Among other gainers, Electrical Industries Company leapt 4.5%, following a sharp rise in quarterly net profit.

Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - rose nearly 5% after the U.S. imposed sanctions on major Russian suppliers Rosneft and Lukoil over the war in Ukraine, extending gains from the previous session.

In Abu Dhabi, the index dropped 0.4%, weighed down by a 4.2% slide in Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, despite reporting a rise in third-quarter profit.

The Qatari index added 0.3%, with Commercial Bank gaining 2.7%.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index closed 0.3% higher, snapping two sessions of losses.

The EU economy commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, and Egypt's Planning Minister Rania Al-Mashat presented a memorandum of understanding for a second 4 billion euro ($4.66 billion) financing, the EU said on Wednesday.