Except for Qatari market, the rest of the Gulf stock exchanges closed higher on Tuesday, with Dubai benchmark leading the pack clocking in 1.8 percent rise to 2,029 points as bluechip stocks helped push the main index. Oman index came second gaining 0.7 percent at close to 6,601 points. Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All-Stock Index followed, ending 0.62 percent higher at 5,856.99 points. Kuwait's benchmark rose 0.5 percent to 7,692 points. Abu Dhabi's index edged 0.2 percent higher to 3,001 points. Bahrain's index rose 0.1 percent to 1,522 points. However, Qatar's main measure fell 0.4 percent to 7,046 points. Saudi Electric gained 2 percent, after having been granted another 10-year reprieve on paying dividends to the government, which may save the company hundreds of millions of riyals per year. Samba Financial Group rose 2.1 percent. “Samba looks interesting at these levels - it has been beaten down quite severely on the back of Saad and Algosaibi and is now trading at discounted levels,” said Fouad Dajani, vice president at Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia. “So it could be a nice short-term play in the next few weeks in the run-up to Q3 numbers,” he added. Investor focus was on DP World, which closed 4.2 percent higher. The ports operators said on Tuesday it is not involved in talks over a potential sale of a stake. DP World's rise comes despite a downgrade by Societe Generale to hold from buy, citing the stock's recent rally. “After their strong run, we suggest that the shares are due for breath,” SocGen analysts said. Other star performers in Dubai included Emirates NBD and Emaar Properties which climbed 4 percent and 2.9 percent respectively. Abu Dhabi's bourse edged 0.2 percent higher to 3,001 points. Among the biggest gainers were Union National Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, rising 5.4 percent and 5.9 percent respectively. The second-best performing regional market was Oman's index, which rose 0.7 percent to 6,601 points. “We are witnessing good buying from institutions, it is the main driver for the moment,” said Adel Nasr, United Securities brokerage manager. “Overall people in our market are very optimistic, the positive sentiment will continue for a while, at least until the end of the third quarter,” he added. Qatar's bourse was the only one to decline in the region, closing 0.4 percent lower at 7,046 points. Qatar National Bank and Masraf Al Rayan fell 1 percent and 0.8 percent respectively. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai will be closed from Sept. 20-23, it said in a statement on its website, while Saudi Arabia's bourse will close over the Sept. 19-23 period for the Eid Al-Fitr holiday. Nasdaq Dubai will reopen for normal business on Thursday (Sep. 24). Tadawul will resume trading on Saturday, Sept. 26.
