Mideast Stocks: Saudi index firms as other Gulf markets remain subdued

Mideast Stocks: Saudi index firms as other Gulf markets remain subdued

Major Gulf stock markets were little changed in early trade on Sunday, though the Saudi index was up 0.4% to extend gains from the previous four sessions. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index was buoyed by advancing by 0.8% while was up 0.6%. In a blow for the Saudi economy the kingdom has restricted the annual haj pilgrimage to its own citizens and residents for the second year running in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday. It also set a maximum of 60,000 participants, a fraction of the 2.5 million that would visit the holiest sites of Islam in Mecca and Medina before the pandemic for the week-long haj and the year-round umrah pilgrimage, which together earned the kingdom about $12 billion a year, official data shows. In Abu Dhabi, the index eased by 0.1%, hit by a 0.7% decline for the country's largest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank. From June 15 Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) second-most populous emirate, will limit entry to shopping centres, restaurants, cafes and other public places to those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the coronavirus. Daily coronavirus cases in the UAE, a