Most major stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade on Monday with higher oil prices, while the Saudi index retreated, threatening to end a four-day winning streak.
Oil prices hit their highest level in years as demand recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, boosted by more custom from power generators turning away from expensive gas and coal to fuel oil and diesel.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index fell 0.4%, weighed down by a 1.4% drop in petrochemical maker Saudi Basic Industries and a 4.8% slide in Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co (Yansab).
Yansab reported a quarterly net profit of 179.8 million riyals ($47.94 million), down from 195.6 million riyals a year earlier.
Dubai's main share index added 0.2%, helped by a 0.5% rise in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 1.6% rise in logistic firm Aramex.
In Abu Dhabi, the index gained 0.3%, with the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank adding 0.7%, while Response Plus Holding climbed 1.5% after swinging to a quarterly profit.
The United Arab Emirates on Sunday recorded a drop in daily COVID-19 cases to below 100 for the first time since the start of the outbreak last year as it hosts a huge world fair to which it hopes to attract millions of visits.
The Qatari benchmark inched 0.1% higher, with sharia-compliant lender Masraf Al Rayan rising 1.1% and Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) adding 0.2%.
On Sunday, QIB reported a net profit of 2.53 billion riyals ($694.75 million) for the nine months ended Sept. 30, a 13.9% increase compared to same period year before.
($1 = 3.7507 riyals)
($1 = 3.6416 Qatar riyals)
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))
