MUSCAT: Oman shares advanced to the highest in almost six months led by Bank Muscat SAOG on speculation the lender's full-year results will beat estimates after third- quarter profit climbed. Dubai shares retreated. Bank Muscat, Oman's biggest bank by assets, rose 1.1 percent. The MSM30 Index advanced 0.6 percent to 6,620.55, the highest since May 16, at the 1 p.m. close in Muscat, bringing the weekly gain to 1.6 percent. Dubai's index fell 0.9 percent as Union Properties PJSC slumped 4 percent after its third- quarter loss almost tripled. “Investors are building up positions on expectations of improved performance of banking majors, namely Bank Muscat and National Bank of Oman during this quarter,” said Kanaga Sundar, senior manager of research at Gulf Baader Capital Markets SAOC. Bank Muscat, the company with the heaviest weighting on Oman's gauge, increased to 0.909 rial, the highest since September 2008. The lender will benefit from the second round of quantitative easing, or asset purchases by the Federal Reserve, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report last week. Bank Muscat on Oct. 14 reported a 26 percent increase in third-quarter profit to 25.2 million rials ($65 million), helped by higher income from lending and fees. National Bank of Oman, the sultanate's second-biggest by assets, rose 1.7 percent to 0.37 rial, the highest since January 2009. Dubai's index fell to 1,691.65, the lowest since Oct. 5. The gauge declined 2.7 percent this week. The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) will resume trading Nov. 20 to mark Islam's Eid Al-Adha holidays. UAE and Qatar's stock markets will close from Nov. 15 and resume trading Nov. 21. Kuwait will close from Nov. 14 to Nov. 18 and Bahrain will shut from Nov. 16 to Nov. 18. Kuwait's gauge fell 0.7 percent and Abu Dhabi's measure slipped 0.1 percent Thursday. Bahrain's gauge rose 0.2 percent. Saudi Arabia's market was closed for the weekend. “Locally, investors are reluctant to take risks before a prolonged holiday,” said Paul Cooper, managing director at Sarasin-Alpen & Partners Ltd. in Dubai, which oversees more than $500 million in the Middle East. “There is some fundamental justification to this given some poor third-quarter results in the United Arab Emirates.” Union Properties slumped the most since June 1 to 40.7 fils.
