The Gulf financial markets have closed Thursday’s session with gains in all markets, supported by better oil prices.
Due to the significant decline in oil prices and the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Gulf markets suffered greatly last year.
Brent crude for June delivery rose 20 cents, or 0.31%, to $65.52 a barrel.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures for June delivery increased 20 cents, or 0.33%, to $61.55 a barrel.
Gulf markets
The Saudi market index rose by 0.38% and closed at 10,134.08 points, and Bank Saudi Fransi and Al-Rajhi recorded gains of 2.58% and 0.83%, respectively.
The Abu Dhabi market index increased by 0.67% to 6101.63 points. The most prominent gainers were the First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, up by 1.4% and 1.23%, respectively.
On Wednesday, First Abu Dhabi Bank announced that its net profit in the first quarter of 2021 would grow by 3% year-on-year to $675.2 million.
The Qatar Stock Exchange index closed at 10,844.92 points, with a slight increase of 0.05%, thanks to the rise of the two leading stocks, Qatar National Bank and Industries Qatar, by 0.22% and 0.08%, respectively.
The first index in the Kuwait market registered a slight increase of 0.09% to 6,590.26 points, and the gains were led by United Air Services and Asia Capital Investment, up 11.97% and 11.5%, respectively.
The Muscat Stock Exchange index increased by 0.59% to 3,719.21 points, and the most prominent winners were the Omani Financial Services and Bank Nizwa shares, up by 8.75% and 1.09%.
The Bahrain index also registered a slight increase of 0.19% to 1486.29 points, thanks to the gains of the shares of Al Salam Bank and Bahrain Telecom, which increased by 1.52% and 0.36%.
In a related context, Goldman Sachs has forecasted oil prices to increase in the third quarter of this year, in light of OPEC’s assurances of more production and the acceleration of vaccinations rollout around the world.
Recently, oil prices recorded stability, which gave confidence in the possibility of a further increase in prices during the coming period, at a time when the Coronavirus pandemic hit prices hard last year.
