Most Gulf Arab bourses rose on Wednesday buoyed by strength in global markets, with Oman the biggest gainer in the region, jumping 4 percent. Bourses took cue from strength in US stocks on Tuesday, where sentiment was boosted by comments from the top US Treasury official that American banks have adequate capital. “There was optimism last night from the US and we are seeing some rebound,” said Rami Sidani, Schroders Middle East head of investment. “Visibility is still low and we are still awaiting first-quarter results to finish to form some sort of opinion.” “The banking sector is strong and we have seen some very healthy earnings, which is a major barometer of the health of the economy.” Saudi Arabia's index jumped 3.18 percent to 5,216.84 points. Al-Rajhi Bank, which closed 8.4 percent higher pushed up Saudi Arabia's bourse after it said on Tuesday it saw opportunities for M&A deals in Asia. Arab National Bank climbed 7.05 percent. Etihad Etisalat climbed 3.71 percent after its first-quarter net profit increased 47 percent. Kingdom Holding was one of the day's biggest decliners, dropping 8.62 percent after posting an 83.5 percent slump in first-quarter profit. Bourses in the United Arab Emirates rose reversing two days of declines. “UAE markets edged higher taking direction from US markets overnight and also some technical buying after recent profit-taking,” said Matthew Wakeman, managing director, cash and equity-linked trading at EFG-Hermes in Dubai. “Volume was lighter than we've seen over the last few weeks and activity was focused on the large cap names.” In Dubai the index rose 0.98 percent to 1,677 points. Emaar Properties advanced 2.76 percent and Dubai Islamic Bank 3.91 percent. Abu Dhabi's benchmark edged 0.76 percent higher to 2,586 points. Emirates Telecommunications Co (Etisalat) rose 0.7 percent and Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) advanced 2.56 percent. Muscat's benchmark rallied 4.01 percent to 5,267 points. Bank Muscat rose 6.7 percent and National Bank of Oman 5.84 percent. “It's a technical bounce back from Oman. Yesterday we saw some sharp selling and it's moving higher in tandem with global markets,” said Ajeev Gopinathan, analyst at Gulf Investment Services. Banks boosted Oman, with National Bank of Oman and Bank Muscat rallying by more than 5 and 6 percent respectively. Banking shares were also leaders in Qatar. Qatar's benchmark gained 0.22 percent to 5,285 points. Qatar National Bank and Qatar Islamic Bank rose 1.93 percent and 1.15 percent respectively. Industries Qatar fell 3.49 percent after it said it expects 2009 profit to fall 34.2 percent. Bahrain's bourse closed 0.4 percent higher at 1,660 points. Bahrain Saudi Bank fell almost 10 percent after it received an offer from Al Salam Bank to buy all of its issued and paid-up shares. However, Kuwait bucked the trend to close lower led by National Mobile Telecommunications Co (Wataniya), which fell nearly 5 percent after its first-quarter net profit eased 4.4 percent. The index in Kuwait eased 0.55 percent to 7,649 points. Kuwait Finance House fell 3.45 percent and Wataniya dropped 4.71 percent. Meanwhile, gold prices closed slightly higher Wednesday, as worries about banks sent investors in search of safety. Gold for June delivery added $9.80 to settle at $892.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
