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By Andrew Torchia
RIYADH, May 21 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's stock market outperformed a sluggish region on Sunday after U.S. and Saudi companies signed over $200 billion of deals during the visit to Riyadh by President Donald Trump.
Few of the deals involved listed Saudi companies, and many had been previously announced, or were merely memorandums of understanding that might never lead to concrete projects.
But the positive publicity around the agreements - and the warm welcome given to Trump amid talk of stronger diplomatic and economic ties between the countries - cheered some investors, and the Saudi stock index
"Sentiment is high because of the deals," said Talal Samhouri, head of asset management at Qatar's Amwal, though he added that from a fundamental point of view, the immediate outlook for the Saudi market was not particularly strong.
"The market is fairly valued, and we're coming to the summer months, where volumes become the lowest during the year," he said.
Mining company Ma'aden
Petrochemical companies were strong after oil prices rose sharply at the end of last week, with Saudi Basic Industries
Construction firm Khodari
Dubai's index
Gulf Navigation
Abu Dhabi's index
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
(Additional reporting by Celine Aswad; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) ((andrew.torchia@thomsonreuters.com)(+9715 6681 7277)(Reuters Messaging: andrew.torchia.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))