Gulf markets rebound, led by Abu Dhabi, Qatar

STOCKS REBOUND: Markets have shrugged off the negative sentiment over a potential conflict between Iran and Israel. (Getty Images)

Gulf markets rebounded on Monday after geopolitical concerns over a conflict between Iran the Israel weighed on stocks in the previous session.

The recovery was led by Abu Dhabi and Qatar, followed by Dubai, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Only Kuwait and Oman ended the session in negative territory.

Shares of Dana Gas led gains in the UAE capital. Dana rose 2.67 percent after announcing on Sunday it had discovered oil in Egypt, while National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and First Gulf Bank closed up 2.18 percent and 1.14 percent respectively.

Shares of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) had surged almost 8 percent in early trading before pulling back.

The main index closed up 1.01 percent at 4,953.83 points.

Shares of Commercial Bank of Qatar and Qatar National Bank drove Doha's main index to end higher. Qatar National Cement Co also surged after announcing its second-half results.

Commercial Bank jumped 2.71 percent and Qatar National rose 1.5 percent, while Qatar National Cement rose 3.36 percent. Commercial Bank said on Sunday it raised its capital 13.2 percent to 2.06 billion riyals.

The index, up 22.61 percent this year, gained 1 percent to 11,863.86 points.

In Dubai, Union Properties and Du brought Dubai's main index higher.

Union closed 2.99 percent at 5.16 dirhams a share after Credit Suisse initiated coverage on the developer with an "outperform" rating and a target of 8.2 dirhams.

Du closed 4.18 percent up. The index ended 0.7 percent up at 5,443.78 points.

In Bahrain, United Gulf Bank and Ithmaar Bank gained 5.32 percent and 2.74 percent respectively,
pushing the index to close 0.44 percent higher at 2,859.03 points.

Shares of Al-Rajhi Bank and Samba Financial Group led gains in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Rajhi rose 2.03 percent after it said on Sunday it will give 1.875 billion riyals in dividend for the first half of 2008, or 1.25 riyals per share.

Samba closed 0.98 percent. The index ended 0.3 percent up at 9,352.32 points.

Shares of National Bank of Kuwait and Global Investment House helped Kuwait's benchmark extend losses into a fourth session.

National Bank ended 1.09 percent lower and Global fell 1.92 percent. Soor Fuel Marketing Co bucked the trend on its trading debut, closing 5.88 percent higher.

The index, the second-best performer in the Gulf Arab region this year, ended 0.18 percent down at 15,456.2 points.

Shares of Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel) and Bank Dhofar weighed on Muscat, bringing the index to its fifth successive lower close.

Omantel ended 1.85 percent lower and Dhofar fell 3.16 percent. Bank Muscat bucked the trend, reversing some losses from the previous day, ending 0.5 percent higher.

Bank Dhofar and Omantel fall as investors took new positions after the stocks rallied last week, said local brokerage manager at United Securities Adel Nasr.

The benchmark slipped 0.41 percent to 11,323.04 points.

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