Dubai's markets rose on Thursday as real estate shares gained, while most other markets were little changed before corporate results due to pick up next week. The Dubai index added 0.5%, led by a 1.4% gain in its largest lender, Emirates NBD, and a 0.8% rise in Emaar Properties. The developer has been rising since Monday after its Egyptian subsidiary, Emaar Misr Development, initially agreed with El Nasr Housing and Development to settle a dispute on Uptown Cairo land. The Saudi index was up 0.2%. Al Rajhi Bank rose 0.6% and Alinma Bank gained 1.6%. Investment bank EFG Hermes forecast 7.6% growth year-on-year in second-quarter profit for the Saudi Arabia's financial sector. Saudi Enaya Cooperative Insurance surged 2.7% after it won a medical insurance contract worth over 5% of its revenue last year. In Qatar, the index dropped 0.4%. The Gulf's largest bank, Qatar National Bank, lost 1.1% despite posting a 4% increase in first-half net profit. However, Qatar Gas Transport gained 0.4% after reporting a 7% jump in first-half net profit. Kuwait's index slid 0.2%, weighed down by financial stocks. The index had risen for the last 10 sessions, triggered by MSCI's decision to move Kuwaiti equities to its main emerging-market index in 2020. Kuwait has outperformed its Gulf peers in anticipation of the MSCI move, and is still up over 28% year-to-date. The Abu Dhabi index eased 0.2%, pressured by First Abu Dhabi Bank, which lost 0.4%. But Aldar Properties was up 1%, extending its gains for a second day. On Wednesday, the property developer was awarded 5 billion dirhams ($1.36 billion) of development projects from the Abu Dhabi government. ($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham) (Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru, editing by Larry King) Source: Reuters
