Saudi Arabian stocks firmed in early trade on Tuesday, supported by gains in the banking sector and as index heavyweight Saudi Aramco rose on the back of higher oil prices.
The indexes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), however, extended their losses as coronavirus cases in the Gulf exceeded 1,000 and Bahrain reported its first death from the virus.
Saudi Arabia's index was 1.1% higher, after declining for four straight sessions. National Commercial Bank, the country's largest lender, jumped 3.1%, while Al Rajhi Bank ticked up 1.2%.
Saudi Aramco firmed 1.1% as oil rose more than $1 on bargain-buying after recent sharp falls due to the coronavirus pandemic and the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Aramco's Chief Financial Officer Khalid al-Dabbagh said on Monday the company was "very comfortable" with $30 a barrel oil prices and that it can meet its dividends commitments and shareholders expectations even in the current low oil price environment.
Aramco, which paid a dividend of $73.2 billion in 2019, intends to declare a cash dividend of $75 billion in 2020.
Abu Dhabi's index fell for the ninth session in ten, down 2.9%. First Abu Dhabi Bank dropped 3.7% and Emirates Telecom lost 4.5%.
The Dubai index slipped 3.1%, taking its year-to-date loss to almost 37% - the highest among Gulf indexes.
Dubai's largest lender Emirates NBD slipped 4.6% and Emaar Properties shed 5.9%.
In Qatar, the index was 0.5% higher, set for its third consecutive session of gains.
The Gulf's largest lender Qatar National Bank rose 2.3% and Industries Qatar strengthened 1.6%.
Qatar, which has 439 virus cases, on Sunday announced 75 billion riyals ($20.5 billion) in financial incentives to the private sector and said it would instruct state funds to increase their investment in the local bourse by 10 billion riyals.
Kuwait's index fell 1.6%, led by a 3.1% drop in market heavyweight Kuwait Finance Hosue.
(Reporting by Maqsood Alam in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni) ((Maqsood.Alam@thomsonreuters.com;))
