Most stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trade on Wednesday, with the Dubai index falling the most, although Saudi stocks were on track to end two days of losses.
Dubai's main share index dropped 0.8%, to end a four-day winning streak, weighed down by a 1.9% decline in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 1.1% decrease in Emirates NBD Bank.
However, Amlak Finance surged 14.9% — on course to gain for a fifth session.
On Sunday, the Islamic finance company swung to net profit of 887.1 million dirhams ($241.55 million) for the third quarter, from a loss of 151.4 million dirhams year ago.
In Abu Dhabi, the index fell 0.6%, a day after it reached a record high, hit by a 2.2% fall in Emirates Telecommunications Group.
Israel's energy minister said on Tuesday a deal with partners from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to transport oil from the Gulf to Europe via Israel should be cancelled as it was too much of an environmental risk.
The idea was for oil to be unloaded from tankers in the Red Sea port of Eilat and then transferred across Israel in an existing pipeline to the Mediterranean coast.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index added 0.2%, on track to end two sessions of losses, helped by a 0.9% rise in Saudi National Bank, the kingdom's largest lender.
The head of the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority told Al Arabiya TV on Tuesday that the kingdom had restored 45% of pre-COVID-19 passenger traffic estimated in 2019 at around 100 million passengers.
The Qatari benchmark dropped 0.4%, with Qatar National Bank falling 0.4% and petrochemical maker Industries Qatar down 0.4%.
($1 = 3.6726 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))
