Stocks in Saudi Arabia, the region's biggest equity market, rose for a third day boosted by gains in the kingdom's largest lender by market capitalisation.
Benchmark indexes in other GCC markets also edged higher in sluggish trade with the exception of Abu Dhabi’s measure, which ended flat.
Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) closed trade 0.4 per cent higher at 7,209.24, helped by a 0.9 per cent increase in Al Rajhi Bank shares.
The lender, which accounts for 12.5 per cent weighting on the Saudi measure, the most among the 175 index members, closed at its highest level since July 19.
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Read more:
Zain stocks surge on Omantel move, indices little changed
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Tadawul's 12-member banking gauge also climbed 0.5 per cent. However, Saudi British Bank shares fell 0.7 per cent, after climbing 3.6 per cent the previous trading day last Friday. The bank said it will buy HSBC's stake in SABB Takaful for 117.8 million Saudi riyals (Dh115.3m). The lender will hold 65 per cent of the share capital of the Islamic insurer after completion of the transaction, it said in a statement on Sunday.
"For banks in the region, in general, even if profits are a bit lower, even if provisions are higher, I still don't see we are in trouble in terms of results. We are just adjusting to a new normal," Nabil Al Rantisi, the managing director of Abu Dhabi-based Mena Corp Financial Services, told Bloomberg.
Shares of some of the smaller Saudi insurance firms fell following regulatory bans on policies after discrepancies in vehicle insurance agreements were discovered, according to statements filed to the stock exchange.
Arabian Shield slumped 7.7 per cent, while Malath Insurance declined 4.5 per cent.
In the UAE, Abu Dhabi's benchmark index closed flat at 4,492.6. Oil and gas exploration and investment firm Taqa, slipped 1.6 per cent. Dubai's DFM General Index rose 0.4 per cent to 3,615.4 points.
Qatar’s QE Index added 0.3 per cent, helped by gains in Industries Qatar, which climbed 0.9 per cent.
Foreign Deposits of Qatari banks have declined 7.9 per cent in July as Doha’s tiff with the quartet of the Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt continues.
The bloc of Arab nations cut ties with Qatar on June 5, which has put its economy and its banking sector under pressure.
Qatar which supplies about a third of the world's total liquefied natural gas (LNG), has also told its banks to tap international investors to raise financing, instead of mainly relying on government funding. The move is aimed at avoiding further strain on domestic liquidity, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Elsewhere in the region, Oman's gauge rose 0.5 per cent as Omantel gained 2.8 per cent in Muscat.
The shares of telecommunications firm fell 3.6 per cent last week after its announced plans to purchase 9.84 per cent stake in Kuwait's Zain for US$846m.
Main indexes in Kuwait’s and Bahrain added 0.2 per cent and 1 per cent,
respectively.
with Bloomberg
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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Aayan%E2%80%99s%20records
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
SPECS
Mini John Cooper Works Clubman and Mini John Cooper Works Countryman
Engine: two-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 306hp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: JCW Clubman, Dh220,500; JCW Countryman, Dh225,500
