Mideast Stocks: Abu Dhabi hits record high; other major Gulf bourses ease

Sa Sa International Holdings

05/07/2021 09:22

July 5 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi stocks rose to a record high in
early trade on Monday, led by gains in International Holding
(IHC) as the company continued a rally following the listing of
a subsidiary.
    IHC's market capitalisation hit 201.7 billion dirhams
($54.92 billion) last week, making it Abu Dhabi's most valuable
listed company, after the market debut of Alpha Dhabi
 ALPHADHABI.AD , in which IHC holds a 45% stake.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2O903X
    In Abu Dhabi, the index  .ADI  gained 1%, with International
Holding  IHC.AD  advancing over 5%.
    The index's gains were capped by losses at the country's
largest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank  FAB.AD , which was down
0.6%.
    Dubai's main share index  .DFMGI  eased 0.1%, weighed down
by a 0.4% fall in Emirates NBD Bank  ENBD.DU  and a 1.5% decline
in budget airline Air Arabia  AIRA.DU .
    The United Arab Emirates has approved Moderna Inc's  MRNA.O 
COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the fifth vaccine to receive
such approval from the Gulf Arab state.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2OG055
    The UAE, with a population of about 9.2 million, has
reported the spread of the Beta, Delta and Alpha variants in the
country.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2OA0C4
    Saudi Arabia's benchmark index  .TASI  lost 0.3%, pressured
by a 1.1% fall in Saudi Telecom Company  7010.SE  and a 0.7%
drop in petrochemical company Saudi Basic Industries  2010.SE .
    OPEC+ ministers were resuming talks on Monday after failing
to reach a deal on oil output policy in two days of talks last
week, amid a rare public standoff between Gulf allies Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2OH0OJ
    The spat erupted at a sensitive time for the oil market and
could delay plans to pump more oil through to the end of the
year to cool global oil prices that have soared to 2-1/2 year
highs. Brent  LCOc1  was trading around $76 on Monday.  O/R 
    The movement in oil prices is a key catalyst for the Gulf
region's financial markets.
    The Qatari index  .QSI  fell 0.2%, with Qatar National Bank
 QNBK.QA  losing 0.3%.

($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)

 (Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru, Editing by Timothy
Heritage)
 ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))