Gulf markets are seen upbeat on back of global gains, and positive lead from Saudi Arabia a day earlier, but any upside is expected to be limited on overbought local markets.
World stocks hit a 6-1/2-month peak on Friday on hopes that Greece will next week seal a long-awaited bailout deal needed to avert a disorderly debt default.
“Optimism in global markets has mostly been priced in and unless there is a substantial regional catalyst, this region would find it hard to take a leg up,” says Amer Khan, fund manager at Shuaa Asset Management. “I would expect flat to positive markets.”
Brent crude oil ended lower on Friday as investors booked profits after gaining for four straight days. ICE Brent crude for April delivery settled at $119.58 a barrel, falling 53 cents.
Saudi Arabia’s index rose 0.3 percent on Saturday to close at 6,830 points. Analysts expect the benchmark to test the psychological level of 7,000 points in coming sessions.
Elsewhere, Kuwait’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) last week ordered nine listed companies, including the co-owner of Aston Martin, Investment Dar, to be removed from the stock exchange.
Most of companies’ shares have been suspended for many months for failing to report earnings on time.
Investment Dar said it was “astonished” by the decision, and had not been informed in advance of details related to the delisting. “Investment Dar had fulfilled all filing requirements and submitted some weeks earlier all the relevant information to the regulators in accordance with the court approved restructuring plan,” the investment firm said in a statement.
In other company news, Bahrain Islamic Bank and Al Salam Bank will be in focus after saying that merger talks between both lenders to form a banking giant collapsed due to disagreement on pricing.
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