Most Gulf bourses gain on US-China trade talks
DUBAI: Most stock markets in the Gulf edged higher on Sunday as US-China resumed talks in Geneva aimed at cooling the trade war that threatens to seriously damage the global economy.
Senior US and Chinese officials met again on Sunday in Geneva, Reuters reported citing two sources familiar with the situation.
On Friday, comments by President Donald Trump that an 80% tariff on Chinese goods 'seems right' - making his first suggestion of a specific alternative to the 145% levies - created some hope of progress toward resolving the dispute.
In Qatar, the index edged 0.1% higher, helped by a 0.9% rise in Qatar Islamic Bank.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index fell 0.2%, hit by a 3.8% slide in ACWA Power Company.
However, Saudi Aramco finished 0.6% higher. The world's top oil exporter reported a net profit of 97.54 billion riyals ($26.01 billion) for the first quarter, which beat a company-provided median estimate from 16 analysts of $25.36 billion.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index dropped 1.1% as most of its constituents were in negative territory including Commercial International Bank, which retreated 1.6%.
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