MIDEAST STOCKS Chemical and banking stocks boost Saudi index amid rising oil prices – Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS Chemical and banking stocks boost Saudi index amid rising oil prices – Reuters

Sept 26 (Reuters) - Most major Gulf markets rose in early trade on Sunday, with Saudi shares leading gains as material and financial stocks offered a boost against a background of rising oil prices.

Oil prices rose for a third week in a row to a near three-year high on Friday as global output disruptions force energy companies to pull large amounts of crude out of inventories. read more

Brent (.LCOc1) futures settled at $78.09 a barrel on Friday.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) was trading 0.7% higher after four consecutive days of declines.

Market Heavyweight Al Rajhi Bank (1120.SE) was up 0.7% while chemical makers Sahara International Petrochemical (2310.SE) and Saudi Basic Industries (2010.SE) advanced 3.6% and 0.8% respectively.

The Dubai index (.DFMGI) was up 0.3% with financial stocks giving the most support as Dubai Islamic Bank (DISB.DU) gained 0.6%.

Amanat Holdings (AMANT.DU) jumped as much as 4.6% before steadying around 2.8% higher. The integrated healthcare and education investment company said it's Saudi fund sold a minority stake in International Medical Centre, resulting in a net gain of about 40 million dirhams.

Abu Dhabi's index (.ADI) edged