Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf markets gain on earnings boost, but Saudi index extends losses
Dubai's main share index advanced 1.2%, hitting a 17-1/2-year high, buoyed by financial shares.
Shares of Emirates NBD jumped 4%, on course to gain for a third consecutive session, after the top lender announced it had concluded 3.9 billion dirhams ($1.06 billion) in syndicated loans for Dubai Metro's Blue Line Project.
Budget airliner Air Arabia advanced 5.1% to a record high on plans to increase its Abu Dhabi unit's operational capacity by 40% this year, following Wizz Air Abu Dhabi's exit from the market.
In Abu Dhabi, the index added 0.6%.
The Qatari index gained 0.5%, supported by a 2.6% rise in Qatar Islamic Bank after the lender reported higher half-yearly profit.
The sharia-compliant lender reported on Wednesday a first-half net profit of 2.18 billion riyals ($598.46 million), up 5.3% from last year.
Shares of Commercial Bank of Qatar dropped 1.3%, a day after the lender posted a nearly 20% decline in net profit for the six-month period ended June 30.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index eased 0.2%, on course to fall for a eighth consecutive session, with Al Rajhi Bank losing 0.8%.
Elsewhere, oil giant Saudi Aramco was down 0.7%.
($1 = 3.6427 Qatar riyals)
($1 = 3.6726 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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