Mideast Stocks: Major stock markets in the Gulf end mixed

Mideast Stocks: Major stock markets in the Gulf end mixed

Major stock markets in the Gulf ended mixed on Tuesday, with financial shares weighing on the Saudi index and property stocks bolstering Dubai. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index dropped 0.8%, weighed down by a 2.1% decline in and a 2.3% slide in . The kingdom's inflation rate rose for the second consecutive month in May, climbing to 5.7% from 5.3% in April, again reflecting a tripling of value-added tax (VAT) to 15% last year, official data showed on Tuesday. The VAT increase, which went into effect in July, came as the Saudi government sought to bolster its coffers after being hit by last year's oil price crash and the pandemic, as well as voluntary oil production cuts to help stabilise world prices. Dubai's main share index added 0.1%, helped by a 0.7% increase in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties. However, fell 0.8%. The largest Islamic lender in the United Arab Emirates gave an initial price guidance of about 135 basis points over mid-swaps for five-year U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk, or Islamic bonds, a document showed on Tuesday. Dubai's stock market is set for another delisting, raising a question mark over the future of one of the Gulf's major exchanges, which was launched two