Shares in Saudi Arabia extended their winning run to six trading days, despite a fall in international oil prices.
Dubai shares closed lower, with Abu Dhabi little changed.
Brent crude futures fell by 1.8 per cent to US$49.95 per barrel late in the afternoon on reports of rising US inventories and concerns that an oil production deal to be agreed at next month’s Opec meeting may come unstuck over Iraqi opposition.
The Tadawul opened lower in the morning but recovered ground to end 0.04 per cent higher at 5,884.99, thanks to gains from Jabal Omar Development and NCB.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed lower for the second day in a row, as investors booked profits following gains earlier this week.
Emaar Properties shares weighed on the index, closing 1.9 per cent lower at Dh6.72, with Arabtec Holding and DXB Entertainments also closing lower. Shuaa Capital and Deyaar Development were the pick of a handful of gainers, closing up 4.8 per cent and 0.3 per cent.
In the capital, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index opened slightly lower in the morning but recovered ground to close 0.03 per cent higher at 4,265.83, ahead of a series of big-name quarterly earnings announcements.
Shares in FGB ended the day 2.8 per cent higher at Dh10.85, before the bank’s announcement of a 31 per cent jump in net profit to Dh1.86 billion for the third quarter. Etisalat, the heaviest-weighted stock on Abu Dhabi’s headline index, closed 1 per cent lower ahead of the telco’s third-quarter results announcement in the evening.
In Doha, the Qatar Exchange ended the day 0.4 per cent lower.
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