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By Celine Aswad
DUBAI, July 12 (Reuters) - Stock markets in the Middle East rose on Wednesday, bolstered by banking shares ahead of testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen that could offer clues on when the central bank will tighten U.S. monetary policy.
Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the dollar and any monetary policy change in the United States is usually mimicked by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
In Saudi Arabia all 12 of the listed lenders advanced, half of them rising by 1 percent or more, helping to push the index
Consumer-related shares also firmed on expectations of improving performance from the sector in the second quarter.
Analysts at NCB Capital expect the government's decision to reinstate civil servants' allowances to lift average monthly household expenditure back to 11,523 riyals ($3,072.80), with discretionary spending growing by a quarter to 3,578 riyals.
On June 20 the government said it will reinstate the public sector workers' allowance that had been cut in October 2016 because of pressure on state finances.
Analysts said the food sector is likely to account for the biggest chunk of total spending but that they expect accelerating demand for home appliances.
Shares in supermarket company Al Othaim
United Electronics
In Qatar, foreign traders made up a nearly a third of the total market turnover and they were net buyers by a modest margin, helping to boost the price of some of their favoured stocks. Lender Masraf Al Rayan
Forty other companies advanced and only one declined as the index
The benchmark has now risen by 2.7 percent since the start of July but is down 6.5 percent since June 5, when Saudi Arabia and three other Arab states severed diplomatic and trade links with Doha.
In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai's index
Cairo's largest listed lender, Commercial International Bank
HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA
* The index
DUBAI
* The index
ABU DHABI
* The index
QATAR
* The index
EGYPT
* The index
KUWAIT
* The index
BAHRAIN
* The index
OMAN
* The index
($1 = 17.8700 Egyptian pounds) ($1 = 3.7501 riyals) ($1 = 17.8300 Egyptian pounds) ($1 = 3.7500 riyals)
(Editing by David Goodman) ((celine.aswad@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 56224 7653)(Reuters Messaging: celine.aswad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))