Gulf stock markets rose on Wednesday, encouraged by an overnight jump in oil prices which boosted Saudi Arabian petrochemical shares in particular, and strength in Asian bourses after strong Chinese trade data. The Saudi index climbed 0.6 percent to 6,442 points in the heaviest volume for three weeks. In the petrochemical sector, Sipchem jumped 5.5 percent. Yansab, which was due to release first-quarter earnings after the close, gained 3.5 percent. National Commercial Bank, the biggest lender, rose 0.7 percent. It posted a 1 percent rise in profit to 2.63 billion riyals ($702 million). SICO Bahrain had forecast 2.30 billion riyals and Deutsche Bank, 2.23 billion riyals. Saudi British Bank surged 4.9 percent after posting a 2.4 percent rise in profit to 1.14 billion riyals; three analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected an average of 1.01 billion riyals. But Bank Aljazira fell 2.1 percent after reporting a 68 percent year-on-year rise in quarterly profit; it had been gaining in previous weeks in anticipation of strong earnings. Dubai's index added 0.8 percent to 3,501 points as heavyweight Emaar Properties gained 2.7 percent. The index is technically bullish after closing above its 200-day average on Tuesday for the first time since August. Bourse operator Dubai Financial Market surged 5.5 percent to 1.53 dirhams in its heaviest volume since October as it broke technical resistance on its March peak of 1.47 dirhams. But Union Properties, the most heavily traded stock, fell 1.3 percent after saying its board had approved increasing its capital to 7 billion dirhams ($1.9 billion); it did not say how capital would be boosted. Abu Dhabi rose 1.1 percent largely because of First Gulf Bank, which jumped 3.3 percent. Elsewhere,Egypt's index gained 1.2 percent in modest volume. Global Telecom climbed 3.1 percent; Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a presentation for an upcoming eurobond issue by its parent VimpelCom as saying VimpelCom would use the proceeds of the issue to pay off a shareholder loan to Global Telecom. — SG/Reuters
