Most major Gulf stock markets fell on Tuesday, with Abu Dhabi leading the losses, though Dubai bucked the trend supported by Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB).
In Dubai, the index rose 0.2% with Dubai Islamic Bank adding 0.8%. The United Arab Emirates' largest sharia-compliant lender called a shareholders meeting on Dec. 17 to approve acquisition of the unlisted Noor Bank.
Elsewhere, budget airline Air Arabia advanced 2.1% and Emaar Development gained 2.7%.
However, the gains were capped by losses in Emirates NBD, the lender traded down 0.8%.
The Abu Dhabi index dropped 0.5% hurt by First Abu Dhabi Bank and telecoms firm Etisalat, which were down 0.5% and 0.8% respectively.
Saudi's benchmark index dipped 0.1% with Al Rajhi Bank and Samba Financial Group losing 0.5% each.
Recently, the banks in Saudi saw a rally triggered following a lending boom related to Saudi Aramco's public listing.
Saudi banks are marketing loans to help locals subscribe Saudi Aramco's initial public offering (IPO), with some offering four times the usual lending limit, Reuters reported citing two financial sources.
The jump in lending has prompted Saudi Arabia's central bank to monitor banking sector liquidity on a daily basis, assuring that there have not been any liquidity issues so far.
The Qatari index lost 0.4% driven down by a 1.1% fall in Qatar National Bank, the Gulf's largest lender, and a 0.5% drop in lender Masraf Al Rayan.
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru, editing by Louise Heavens) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918067497129;))
