Dubai's benchmark stock index rose on Monday, led by gains in industrial and financial firms, while Qatar slipped on weakness in shares of the country's top lender, which traded ex-dividend.
Dubai's main share index gained 0.6% as Air Arabia leapt 6.7%, the biggest intraday gain since July 2014.
On Sunday, the budget airliner reported an annual profit of 990.2 million dirhams ($269.60 million), compared with a loss of 609.5 million dirhams a year ago. It also proposed a dividend of 9 fils per share.
Dubai Islamic Bank was 0.9% higher ahead of the release of its fiscal 2019 earnings on Feb. 12.
In Qatar, the index lost 0.8%, extending losses to a third session. The Gulf's largest lender Qatar National Bank sank 4.3% as its shares traded ex-dividend, while Industries Qatar slipped 0.4%.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index eased 0.2%, with oil giant Saudi Aramco and National Commercial Bank shedding 0.9% each.
The index fell for a fourth straight session, partly dragged by weaker oil prices, as the coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 900 people in China threatened demand from the world's largest importer of oil.
The Abu Dhabi index edged up 0.2%, supported by First Abu Dhabi Bank and Emirates Telecommunications, which were up 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.
($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918067497129;))
