Feb 20 (Reuters) - Dubai stocks rose on Wednesday, extendinga rally that began last week after real estate companiesreported fourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations. Othermajor Gulf markets were lifted by financial stocks.
In Dubai, the index
.DFMGI
rose 1.5 percent, boosted bybanks and real estate stocks. Dubai Islamic Bank
DISB.DU
gained 1.4 percent.
Emaar Properties
EMAR.DU
jumped 3.2 percent, continuingthe gains driven by better-than-expected profit for the fourthquarter.
DAMAC Properties
DAMAC.DU
gained 0.8 percent, encouraged by strong earnings from other real estate companies.
Property firms, which have been a drag on the index,displayed signs of recovery in their fourth-quarter results andmore construction contracts. They remained a long way from their2014 peak and were still vulnerable to falling property prices.
Dubai residential property prices, which have fallen 25percent to 33 percent in nominal terms since 2014, are likely tofall another 5 to 10 percent this year. That would approach thelows reached in 2010 following the financial crisis, Reutersreported, citing S&P Global Ratings.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N20E0Z0
Islamic Arab Insurance
SALAMA.DU
surged 5.4 percent inheavy volume, rebounding from losses it suffered early this weekafter reporting a 98 percent drop in full-year net profit.
Saudi Arabia's index
.TASI
was up 0.4 percent with most ofits banks rising. Samba Financial Group
1090.SE
added 3.3percent and Riyad Bank
1010.SE
gained 1 percent.
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical
2380.SE
dropped 2.3percent, however, after its full-year profit more than halved.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N20F1IB
Qatar index
.QSI
rose 0.7 percent after a recent spate ofselling. The Gulf's best stock market last year, Qatar sharesare down 6.8 percent so far this year.
Qatar Islamic Bank
QISB.QA
was up 2.3 percent while QatarNational Bank rose 1.1 percent.
The Abu Dhabi index
.ADI
was up 0.3 percent with Abu DhabiCommercial Bank
ADCB.AD
adding 3.1 percent.
(Reporting by Shakeel Ahmad in Bengaluru, editing by LarryKing) ((shakeel.ahmad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;))