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Saudi Arabian stock market nudged lower on Sunday, following losses from the prior session as investors harvested profits after a dynamic rally, spurred by anticipated reforms in foreign ownership policies, while the Qatari index ended higher.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index <.TASI> fell 0.7%, dragged down by a 3.2% fall in Al Rajhi Bank <1120.SE> and a 3% decline in Saudi National Bank <1180.SE>.
On Wednesday, the Saudi bourse soared 5.1%, marking its largest single-day gain in over five years, driven by broad-based strength following a Bloomberg News report that regulators may relax the 49% foreign ownership cap on listed companies, a move anticipated to attract significant new foreign investment to the region's leading equity market.
In Qatar, the index <.QSI> added 0.2%, helped by a 1.3% rise in Qatar Islamic Bank <QISB.QA>.
Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - rose on Friday as Ukraine's drone attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure cut the country's fuel exports.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index <.EGX30> advanced 1.4%, led by a 1.9% rise in Commercial International Bank <COMI.CA>, after the lender's shareholders approved using part of the general reserve to boost the issued and paid-in capital by EGP 3.07 billion ($63.83 million).
| Saudi Arabia | <.TASI> fell 0.7% to 11,230 |
| Qatar | <.QSI> gained 0.2% to 10,978 |
| Egypt | <.EGX30> rose 1.4% to 36,166 |
| Bahrain | <.BAX> eased 0.1% to 1,950 |
| Oman | <.MSX30> added 0.8% to 5,159 |
| Kuwait | <.BKP> lost 0.3% to 9,334 |
($1 = 48.1000 Egyptian pounds)
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru, Editing by Louise Heavens)





















