Mideast Stocks: Aramex buoys Dubai bourse, Saudi at 15-year high

EQUITIES

Dubai's stock market rose in early trade on Wednesday, outperforming its regional peers, while the Saudi index held on to a 15-year high.

Dubai's main share index advanced 0.8%. Aramex surged 14.9%, its biggest intraday gain since Jan. 2009, after a direct deal worth 1.41 billion dirhams ($383.90 million) was implemented on its 295 million shares.

On Tuesday, the logistics firm also resumed deliveries to and from the United Arab Emirates and Doha.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt agreed in January to end a dispute that had led them to sever ties with Qatar in 2017 over accusations that Doha supported "terrorism" - a reference to Islamist groups. Doha denied the charges.

Among other gainers, top lender Emirates NBD added 0.4% after a 61% jump in third-quarter earnings, as impairment charges slumped on a recovering economy and demand for retail financing surged.

On the other hand, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co dropped 0.6%, on course to extend losses for a second session.

The telecoms firm reported a quarterly net profit of 283.2 million dirhams ($77.11 million) on Tuesday, down from 824.1 million dirhams a year earlier.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index gained 0.3%, with Al Rajhi bank rising 0.9%, while Sahara International Petrochemical Company soared more than 6%, after it reported a sharp rise in quarterly net profit.

The kingdom kept its ranking as China's top crude supplier for a tenth month in September, increasing its volumes by 2% from a year earlier, customs data showed on Wednesday.

In Abu Dhabi, the index eased 0.1%, hit by a 0.6% decrease in the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank .

Separately, Fertiglobe, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and chemical producer OCI, said its initial public offering was priced at 2.55 dirhams a share, raising around $795 million for its shareholders.

Its shares are expected to list on the Abu Dhabi stock market on October 27, the statement said.

The Qatari index rose 0.2%, helped by a 1.1% gain in petrochemical maker Industries Qatar. ($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham) (Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)