Gulf Markets See Rising Oil Demand Expectations

Gulf Markets See Rising Oil Demand Expectations

An illustration picture shows a projection of binary code on a man holding a laptop computer, in an office in Warsaw June 24, 2013. (Reuters)

Major Gulf stock markets closed higher on Wednesday, with the rise in oil prices after a revised forecast of demand for crude, while the Egyptian Stock Exchange was hit by selling in the leading stocks.

The International Energy Agency said it expected the demand and global oil supplies to be balanced in the second half of the year, adding that producers might need to pump an additional two million barrels per day to meet the expected demand.

Brent crude futures rose $1.01, equivalent to 1.59 percent, to $64.68 per barrel.

Saudi Arabia's main index closed higher 0.1 percent, supported by an increase of Al-Rajhi bank share 0.8 percent and the Riyadh Bank by 2 percent.

However, the losses of the shares of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), which produces petrochemicals, and the share of the Almarai Company, the largest dairy industry in the Gulf, have limited index earnings.

In Dubai, the main index rose 0.2 percent, supported by the growth of the Emirates NBD, the Emirate's largest bank, 2.2 percent.

Outside the Gulf region, the Egypt blue chips index declined 1.9