Mideast Stocks: Gulf markets mixed on oil price drop; Dubai at 8-year high

Mideast Stocks: Gulf markets mixed on oil price drop; Dubai at 8-year high

Stock markets in the Gulf ended mixed on Monday after a fall in oil prices, and financial shares dragged down the Qatari index, while Dubai stocks closed at a nearly eight-year high. Qatar's benchmark index declined 1.6%, as most of its biggest stocks were in negative territory, including the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank, which fell 2.8%. Qatar National Bank reported a 4% drop in second-quarter net profit to 3.7 billion riyals ($1.02 billion). Ahmed Negm, Head of Market Research MENA at XS.com, said the fall in heavyweight banking stocks could mean the market is exposed to new rounds of losses. "However, a positive performance in natural gas markets could help limit the decline," he said. Banking falls also hit Saudi Arabia's benchmark index , which dropped 0.2% after a 0.6% decline in Al Rajhi Bank, while Saudi National Bank eased 0.1%. The kingdom's largest lender wanted to increase its stake in Credit Suisse to around 40% from 9.88%, but was prevented by Swiss regulator FINMA, Blick newspaper reported on Sunday. UBS completed the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse last month, forging a Swiss banking and wealth management giant with a $1.6 trillion balance sheet and overseeing more than