Qatar outperformed other Gulf stock markets Thursday, while the Egypt bourse slipped as most of its blue-chip stocks fell.

The Qatari index rose 0.8%, with Qatar Islamic Bank up 3% and Mesaieed Petrochemical 0.8% higher after it said it had received an income tax exemption and a tax refund of 170 million riyals ($46.7 million).

In Saudi Arabia, the benchmark index rose 0.4% with National Commercial Bank 1180.SE and Riyad Bank gaining 2% and 1.7% respectively.

Elsewhere, Anaam Holding soared 9.9%, the top gainer on the index, a day after its board proposed a capital increase through a rights issue.

Meanwhile Saudi Aramco's bookrunners have recommended pricing its initial public offering at 32 riyals ($8.5) per share, the top of an indicated price range, Reuters reported, citing three sources familiar with the deal. 

Egypt's blue-chip index was off 0.1% as Sidi Kerir Petrochemical fell 6.8%, its biggest drop since late-September. The firm said that its estimated investment budget for 2020 is 6.88 billion Egyptian pounds ($428.39 million).

In Dubai, the index closed flat as developer Emaar Properties gained 0.7% while Emirates NBD Bank was down 0.4%.

The Abu Dhabi index was also flat with Emirates Telecommunications adding 0.4%, but Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank was off 0.9%.

Growth in United Arab Emirates' non-oil private sector slowed to a 10-year low in November and companies saw the first monthly decline in new orders on record, a survey showed.

($1 = 3.6400 Qatar riyals)

($1 = 3.7500 riyals)

($1 = 16.0600 Egyptian pounds)

(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918067497129;))