Most major Gulf stock markets advanced in early trade on Monday, supported by gains in their financial shares, although Qatar bucked the regional trend to trade lower.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index ticked up 0.2%, with Saudi Arabia Fertilizers rising 2.5% and the kingdom's largest lender, National Commercial Bank, gaining 0.4%.
Oil giant Saudi Aramco firmed 0.3%. The state-owned company on Sunday reported a 73% plunge in profit for the second quarter, but it stuck with plans to pay $75 billion in dividends this year.
Dubai's main share index edged up 0.1%, helped by a 0.6% increase in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 0.5% gain in sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank.
In Abu Dhabi, the index gained 0.5%, driven by a 0.5% rise in the United Arab Emirates' biggest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and a 4.8% jump in aquaculture firm International Holding.
The United Arab Emirates' central bank said on Saturday it was temporarily relaxing two key requirements to improve liquidity and funding needs of banks to encourage them to lend more to businesses under the COVID-19 economic stimulus plan.
The central bank has announced about $70 billion worth of economic stimulus to help businesses cope with the coronavirus outbreak. The economy is likely to contract by 3.6% this year, the central bank said in June.
The Qatari index slipped 0.2%, with Qatar Islamic Bank falling 0.4% and Qatar Navigation losing 1.3%.
($1 = 3.7501 riyals)
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))
