Saudi Arabia's stock market fell on Thursday on doubts about an OPEC+ meeting to discuss oil output cuts, while Dubai was buoyed by gains at real estate firm Dubai Investments.
Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to support extending into July the 9.7 million barrels per day in supply cuts which was backed in April by the OPEC+ group.
But they failed to agree on holding an OPEC+ meeting on Thursday, with OPEC sources saying it would be conditional on countries that have not complied with their targets so far deepening their cuts.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index dropped 1.1%, weighed by a 1.8% drop in petrochemical firm Saudi Basic Industries and a 2.3% fall in National Commercial Bank.
In Dubai, the index gained 1%, with Dubai Investments rising 8.3% after its shareholders approved paying out 10% cash dividends for the fiscal year 2019.
Elsewhere, budget airliner Air Arabia rose 0.9% after the United Arab Emirates said it would resume transit flights after suspending them in March.
Sharjah-based Air Arabia, which has about 2,000 employees, said on Wednesday it had made further job cuts due to the impact of the coronavirus. It did not say how many.
The Abu Dhabi index slipped 0.2%, hurt by a 0.8% fall in telecoms firm Etisalat and a 0.3% ease in the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi, which raised $10 billion in bonds this year, said on Wednesday it will consider raising more money via the bond markets to protect its finances from the impact of low oil prices.
The Qatari index was up 0.4%, as market heavyweight Industries Qatar advanced 1.5%.
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))
