Mideast Stocks: Saudi, Qatar indexes up on corporate earnings; others dip

Mideast Stocks: Saudi, Qatar indexes up on corporate earnings; others dip

Most major Gulf stock markets traded mixed early on Monday, with a slew of corporate earnings driving shares in Saudi and Qatar higher.Saudi Arabia's benchmark index gained 0.1%, helped by a 0.3% rise in Al Rajhi Bank and a 0.6% increase in Saudi National Bank (SNB).SNB, the kingdom's largest lender, posted a 20.3% rise in first-quarter net profit on Monday with lower impairments and higher fees, in a sign that the economy has been recovering from last year's pandemic lockdowns.  But, Saudi Arabian Mining Company retreated 2%, following a decrease in net sales compared with the previous quarter.  In Dubai, the main share index eased 0.1%. Top lender Emirates NBD lost 0.4% and the Dubai Financial Market declined 1.8%.The Abu Dhabi index slid 0.1%, hit by a 0.5% fall in telecoms giant Etisalat.However, the index's fall was cushioned by gains at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, after the United Arab Emirates' third-biggest lender reported soaring profit as it recovers from troubled hospital operator NMC Health impairments. ADCB reported first-quarter net profit of 1.1 billion dirhams ($299.50 million), a 436% increase year-on-year.In Qatar, the benchmark index edged up 0.2%, with Commercial advancing 2.2% after the lender reported a net profit of 602.7 million Qatari riyals