Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf markets rise; Qatar bourse slips

Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf markets rise; Qatar bourse slips

Most major stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade on Tuesday, with gains in National Commercial Bank supporting the Saudi index.Saudi Arabia's benchmark index edged up 0.1%, with National Commercial Bank, the country's largest lender, rising 0.8%, extending gains from the previous session.The bank entered a binding merger agreement with smaller lender Samba Financial Group to create a combined entity with 837 billion riyals ($223 billion) in assets, NCB said on Sunday.Samba Financial Group traded flat.Dubai's main share index rose 0.3%, driven by a 0.5% gain in Emirates NBD Bank and a 0.7% increase in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties.National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed), however, retreated 1.3%. The firm has hired banks to arrange for a potential issuance of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds, a document showed on Monday. Last month,