Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf indexes rise, Dubai benchmark hits record high
Most Gulf bourses inched higher early on Tuesday, with Dubai's main share index hitting a record high on optimism over business agreements between the UAE and the United States.
The agreements are expected to expand the footprint of American AI and cloud companies in the Middle East. OpenAI last week announced plans to develop a massive new data center in the UAE.
Brent futures dipped on 0.41% Tuesday as investors weighed the impact on supply from Russia-Ukraine peace talks and U.S.-Iran negotiations.
Dubai's main share index was up 0.07%, supported by a 3.25% rise in public shareholding company National General Insurance Co. The benchmark hit an all-time high for the third straight session.
Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi, the benchmark index was up 0.33% and Qatar's benchmark stock index rose 0.41%, with the country's Islamic Bank Masraf Al Rayan up 1.99%.
Bucking the trend, Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index fell 0.04%, weighed down by a 4.17% drop in telecom company Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Company.
Water distributor Miahona jumped 4.52% and was among the top gainers on the benchmark.
Among global markets, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.33% higher, while Wall Street futures traded lower on concerns after Moody's downgrade of the country's credit rating.
(Reporting by Rishab Shaju in Bengaluru)
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