Saudi Arabia's markets edged higher on Tuesday, extending gains for a third straight session, while Air Arabia aided a Dubai rebound. In Saudi Arabia, the benchmark index rose 0.5 percent with Al Rajhi Bank and Saudi Telecom gaining 0.9 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. Mediterranean and Gulf Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance (MedGulf) rose 0.8 percent. On Sunday, the insurer signed a health insurance contract with Saudi Electricity. Elsewhere, Basic Chemical Industries increased 0.5 percent, a day after said it had completed 35 percent of the work on its chlorine production project at Jubail Industrial City. However, Jarir Marketing declined 1.6 percent as the stock traded ex-dividend. Dubai's index opened up 0.7 percent, driven by a 1.2 percent rise in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 2.2 percent gain in Air Arabia. On Monday, the budget airliner said that it had signed a $14 billion Airbus A320neo order at the Dubai airshow. Arabtec Holding jumped 4.2 percent, a day after its biggest fall in 6 months following third-quarter losses. On Tuesday, the contractor said its Arabtec Construction unit had won a 366 million dirham ($100 million) construction contract in Egypt. In Abu Dhabi, the index dropped 0.2 percent with market heavyweight First Abu Dhabi Bank losing 0.3 percent and Aldar Properties down 0.9 percent. Earlier this month, Aldar reported a 8 percent fall in third-quarter net profit to 387 million dirhams, compared with 420 million dirhams year ago. Qatar's index dropped 0.2 percent, led by a 0.5 percent fall in the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank and a 1.1 percent slide in Qatar International Islamic Bank. Source: Reuters
