Mideast Stocks: Abu Dhabi market leads broader gains

Mideast Stocks: Abu Dhabi market leads broader gains

Stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Monday, with the Abu Dhabi index marking its best session in more than nine months, led by United Arab Emirates' top lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank.The Abu Dhabi index gained nearly 4% and the benchmark has risen in all but two sessions so far in the new year.First Abu Dhabi Bank was the best performer on the benchmark, adding about 8%. Another bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, rose nearly 5%.The Abu Dhabi Department of Finance has announced a 6 billion-dirham ($1.63 billion) supply chain financing initiative to support a variety of sectors, as a key initiative in its commitment to support small and medium enterprises.The first phase of this initiative is in partnership with the National Health Insurance Co and First Abu Dhabi Bank, aiming to provide liquidity to healthcare SMEs.Dubai's main share index advanced 1.2%, led by a 1.5% gain in developer Emaar Properties and a 0.9% increase in the emirate's biggest bank, Emirates NBD.Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia's benchmark index gained 0.6%, with Saudi Telecom rising 5.4% to finish as the best performer.Financial stocks also underpinned the gains, with Riyad Bank and Samba Financial Group tacking on 1.9% and 1.8%, respectively.Separately, Saudi