Major stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade on Wednesday, with the Dubai index leading the gains, boosted by its property shares following a buy out announcement.
On Tuesday, Emaar Properties said it was buying out minority shareholders of Emaar Malls in a all-share deal.
In Dubai, the index gained 0.8%, led by a 3% jump in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties, while its shopping centre unit Emaar Malls surged 5.9%.
Qatar's benchmark index edged up 0.3%, helped by its banking shares, with sharia-complaint lender Qatar Islamic Bank increasing 1.3%, while Gulf's largest lender Qatar National Bank added 0.9%.
A Moody's report on Monday said that Qatari banks profits will remain resilient for 2021, despite the higher provisioning costs driven by coronavirus pandemic.
Saudi's benchmark index was up 0.2%, as Al Rajhi Bank gained 0.1% and Samba Financial Group rose 0.8%.
Elsewhere, Arabian Centres and Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair gained 4.4% and 2.9% respectively, after they announced they were acquiring a combined 51% stake in online fashion retailer, Vogacloset.
Abu Dhabi index, however, traded flat.
($1 = 3.7500 riyals)
(Reporting by Shamsuddin Mohd in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) ((shamsuddin.mohd@thomsonreuters.com; +918067497252;))
