Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf bourses fall in early trade; Saudi gains

Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf bourses fall in early trade; Saudi gains

Most major stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trade on Monday amid rising COVID-19 cases, as the Saudi index bucked the trend to trade higher in line with oil prices. In Abu Dhabi, the index dropped 0.6%, with the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank losing 0.8% and telecoms firm Etisalat retreating 0.9%. Dubai's main share index fell 0.4%, hit by a 6.3% fall in Dubai Financial Market. The United Arab Emirates, a tourism and commercial hub now marking its peak tourism season and hosting a world fair, on Sunday recorded 2,600 new coronavirus cases and three deaths. It said on Saturday it would ban non-vaccinated citizens from travelling abroad from Jan. 10. The Qatari benchmark eased 0.1%, with sharia-compliant lender Masraf Al Rayan losing 0.4%. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index gained 0.5%, supported by a 0.8% rise in Al Rajhi Bank and a 1.5% increase in Saudi National Bank . The kingdom's central bank has extended a deferred payment programme meant to help support the private sector by an additional three months until March 31, it said on Thursday. Oil prices, a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets, firmed as the market kicked off 2022 on