Most stock markets in the Gulf were slightly lower on Thursday, mirroring volatility in crude prices, while Dubai bucked the trend as its largest lender reported strong earnings.

Crude prices - a key catalyst for Gulf's financial market - were volatile on Thursday ahead of the OPEC+ meeting and the looming European Union ban on Russian refined products.

Brent crude were up 3 cents, or 0.03%, to $86.15 per barrel by 0742 GMT.

Abu Dhabi's benchmark index retreated 1%, weighed down by a 4.3% decline in UAE's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank as the bank reported a 26% drop in fourth-quarter net profit, although it had a 7% rise in 2022 net profit.

The lender missed analyst estimates of 2.95 billion dirhams ($803.22 million) in fourth-quarter net profit, according to Refinitiv data.

The lender also decreased annual cash dividend by 26% to 52 fils per share from 2021.

Sharjah Islamic Bank, however, jumped 4% after the bank posted 27% growth in full-year net profit to 650.9 million dirhams ($177.23 million).

Benchmark Qatari index edged down 0.2%, breaking a five-day winning streak, as most of the index constituents were in negative territory.

Index heavyweight Islamic lender Qatar Islamic Bank and petrochemical maker Industries Qatar declined 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.

Separately, Qatar is in talks to acquire a stake from French company TotalEnergies' $27 billion cluster of energy projects in Iraq, three sources told Reuters.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index dropped 0.2%, on course to snap a five-day rally, with luxury property developer Retal Urban Development falling 0.7% and Riyad Bank losing 1.4%.

Dubai's main share index, however, gained 0.1%, supported by a 1.2% hike in Dubai's largest lender Emirates NBD bank as the lender reported a 40% jump in 2022 net profit to 13 billion dirhams ($3.54 billion), helped by higher interest rates and transaction volumes.

Emirates NBD also proposed a 20% increase in dividend to 60 fils a share.

($1 = 3.6727 UAE dirham)

(Reporting by Mohd Edrees in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)