Saudi Arabia's stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index made its largest one-day gain Sunday since April 21, advancing 1.3 percent to close at 6,749.49 points. Kingdom Holding jumped 5.5 percent to its highest close since May 15. Al Rajhi Bank rose 2.4 percent and Nama Chemicals snapped a four-session losing streak to leap 9.9 percent. Elsewhere, stocks were mixed. Oman index eased 0.5 percent to 5,757 points. Abu Dhabi index advanced 0.6 percent to 2,454 points. Dubai index gained 0.2 percent to 1,467 points. Qatar benchmark fell 0.2 percent to 8,301 points. Kuwait measure edged up 0.2 percent to 6,111 points. Bahrain measure climbed 0.5 percent to 1,137 points. Egypt measure fell 0.4 percent to 4,472 points in low volumes amid investor caution before a presidential run-off vote that has polarised the nation and continued political haggling over a new constitution. "Everyone is waiting for the next 10 days to pass to see what is happening," said investment analyst Nader Khedr. "There are no foreigners in the market and there is no liquidity." Bank Nizwa, Oman's first listed Islamic bank, surged on its market debut, although traders warn selling pressure from retail investors could curtail further gains in the coming days. The most shares traded on any day on the Muscat benchmark index in the last two years was 47.2 million. Bank Nizwa is not yet included in the index. "It was very impressive. But there was huge selling pressure on the stock, with a lot of retail investors offloading today," said Adel Nasr, brokerage manager at United Securities. Institutions and high net worth investors are buying the stock, Nasr added, but the selling pressure is likely to result in a drop-off sooner rather than later. "The initial public offering (IPO) was priced at par and therefore most of the market participants expected it to shoot up in the first few days," Shakeel Sarwar, head of asset management at Securities & Investment Co (SICO), said. "However, since the IPO is dominated by retail investors, I also expect the second round of profit taking to begin soon." The bank raised 60 million Omani rials ($155.9 million) from its 40 percent IPO last month, which attracted bids worth more than 11-times the size of the issue during the subscription period. Oman Arab Bank, in which it owns 51 percent, has postponed its planned initial public offering to September, according to the Oman News Agency. Etisalat climbed 2.8 percent to a 10-week high, extending gains since a local Arabic-language newspaper said the UAE government may soon allow its shares to be owned by foreigners - a story the telco denied in a statement on Sunday. Etisalat's shares are currently restricted to UAE nationals only, with institutions barred.
