RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s stock market rebounded on Monday as global equities and oil prices regained some strength after last week’s tumble, but other Gulf bourses moved little, with Qatar’s index restrained by its biggest bank going ex-dividend.
The Saudi index climbed 0.8 percent in the first 25 minutes as petrochemical blue chip Saudi Basic Industries added 1.1 percent and Al-Rajhi bank gained 1.6 percent.
Trade Union Cooperative Insurance surged 4.6 percent after reporting an 87 percent leap in fourth-quarter net profit, as gross written premiums increased 35 percent. But Salama Cooperative Insurance fell 2.3 percent after quarterly profit shrank 6 percent.
In Dubai, the index edged down 0.1 percent as amusement park operator DXB Entertainments, the most heavily traded stock, fell 1.6 percent after reporting its net loss widened to Dh1.12 billion last year from Dh485 million in 2016.
But Air Arabia rose 1.5 percent after swinging to a fourth-quarter profit of Dh26 million from a year-ago loss of Dh33 million. However, SICO Bahrain had forecast a much higher profit of Dh68 million.
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