Mideast Stocks: UAE stocks extend weekly gains on strong oil, corporate earnings

Mideast Stocks: UAE stocks extend weekly gains on strong oil, corporate earnings

Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates extended their weekly gains on Friday, supported by solid corporate earnings and strong oil prices. Crude oil prices - a major driver for Gulf economies - were on track for a sixth week of gains after Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world's second and third-largest crude producers, pledged to cut output through September, with Brent crude futures for October rising 43 cents to $85.57 a barrel by 0825 GMT.

In Dubai, the main share index rose 0.8% on the back of a more than 3% rise in Emirates NBD Bank, Dubai's largest lender, and a 2% gain in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties.

Dubai's district cooling provider Empower, which reported a decline in quarterly profit, fell 0.5% and was among the three top losers on the index. Abu Dhabi's benchmark index finished flat after wobbling between small losses and gains as hospital operator Burjeel Holding surged more than 10% to settle up 8.8% after reporting a more than 51% jump in Q2 profit.

Maritime logistics services firm ADNOC Logistics & Services also climbed as much 5.3% during early trade as its second-quarter profit jumped more than three-fold.

Both Abu Dhabi and Dubai indexes record weekly gains of 0.3%