DUBAI, March 21 (Reuters) - Gulf stock markets were mostly higher on Tuesday, buoyed by firm global equities, although trading volumes were generally thin and the Egyptian bourse fell on profit taking.
Abu Dhabi
.ADI
was the top performer, climbing 1.2 percent on strong banking shares, with National Bank of Abu Dhabi
NBAD.AD
up 1.9 percent.
Aldar Properties
ALDR.AD
rose 1.3 percent after its chairman Abubaker al-Khoori told shareholders late on Monday of plans to increase its operating income to 2.2 billion dirhams ($599 million) in 2020 from the current 1.6 billion dirhams.
Dubai
.DFMGI
edged up 0.5 percent in its lowest volume this year as Shua Capital
GFH.DU
, which confirmed last week that it was in preliminary talks to merge with GFH Financial
GFH.DU
, added 1.6 percent. GFH was flat.
Saudi Arabia
.TASI
fell 0.1 percent, losing momentum in the final hour of trade as the insurance sector tumbled.
Saudi Indian Company for Cooperative Insurance
8110.SE
slumped 8.7 percent after the board proposed reducing its capital to help cut accumulated losses and support growth plans.
Several Saudi insurance companies have announced plans to reduce losses, but many investors expect there could be mergers in the near future because of tough competition, especially amongst health insurers, which are dominated by BUPA Arabia
8210.SE
, whose shares closed flat.
Telecommunications operators were also laggards, with Zain Saudi
7030.se
dropping 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile Qatar
.QSI
climbed 0.8 percent as the majority of shares that had witnessed passive funds inflow in the lead up to their upgrade in FTSE Russell's secondary market index on Monday, firmed.
Shares of lender Masraf Al Rayan
MARK.QA
rose 2.4 percent and Commercial Bank
COMB.QA
jumped 3.9 percent.
"This is a follow up on the passive funds that had been flowing in," said Kunal Damle, senior institutional sales broker at Bahrain's SICO.
Egypt
.EGX30
lost 0.9 percent in very thin trade, with the largest listed bank Commercial International Bank
COMI.CA
down 1.8 percent.
But export related shares were stronger, with Juhayna Food Industries
JUFO.CA
and Arabian Food Industries
DOMT.CA
each jumping by their 10 percent daily limit.
Shares that depend on exports have been outperforming in recent days as the pound has weakened against the U.S. dollar.
Egyptian Chemical Industries
EGCH.CA
gained 2.0 percent after it said it has inviting bids to buy six plots of land which it owned in Aswan.
TUESDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA
* The index
.TASI
fell 0.1 percent to 6,913 points.
DUBAI
* The index
.DFMGI
rose 0.5 percent to 3,495 points.
ABU DHABI
* The index
.ADI
added 1.2 percent to 4,513 points.
QATAR
* The index
.QSI
climbed 0.8 percent to 10,486 points.
KUWAIT
* The index
.KWSE
gained 0.2 percent to 6,881 points.
EGYPT
* The index
.EGX30
lost 0.9 percent to 12,905 points.
OMAN
* The index
.MSI
fell 0.7 percent to 5,630 points.
BAHRAIN
* The index
.BAX
dropped 0.6 percent to 1,366 points.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ OPEC in first joint oil cut with Russia since 2001, Saudis take "big hit"
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Editing by Alexander Smith) ((andrew.torchia@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 6681 7277)(Reuters Messaging: andrew.torchia.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
