JEDDAH/DUBAI: Most Gulf Arab markets closed higher on Wednesday, boosted by upbeat US data and early oil price gains which fueled hopes that the worst of the recession may be over.

But oil later pared some of its earlier gains, sending Saudi Arabia’s index lower, the only benchmark in the region to end in the red.

Volumes remained low in the first week of Ramadan and institutional investors refrained from entering the market, leaving retail investors to build up positions.

Property stocks helped lift the Dubai and Abu Dhabi indexes which gained 1.3 percent to 1,873 points and 1.2 percent to 2,856 points respectively.

“It’s the continuation of the same theme, valuations (of real estate stocks) are modest and the consensus is that the turnaround of the real estate sector in the UAE and Dubai is intact,” said Ali Khan, managing director and head of brokerage at Arqaam Capital. Sector heavyweight Emaar Properties closed 3.5 percent higher in Dubai, while Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties also rose 3.5 percent.

Qatar’s benchmark gained 0.4 percent to 6,897 points, while Bahrain edged up 0.2 percent to 1,514 points. “Unless we have some major news, people will not be encouraged to start buying into the market,” said Osama Rayyan, chief dealer at Dlala Brokerage & Investment Holding.

Oman’s benchmark rose 0.5 percent to 6,269 points, while Kuwait’s main index advanced 0.2 percent to 7,924 points.

Zain continues to be in the spotlight, trading on above average volumes, but closing unchanged after a volatile session.

Egypt’s benchmark index gained for a fifth straight session, up 1.4 percent in decent volumes as Sewedy Cables was boosted by a breach of resistance levels.

More than half of the thirty firms listed on the index declined, including Orascom Telecom which ended 0.6 percent lower. The firm posted a 38 percent rise in second quarter profit.

Banks dragged the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) 0.4 percent lower at 5,762.75 points on Wednesday. Seven of the 15 sectors closed with positive gains which ranged from 0.06 percent in Building & Construction to 1.73 percent in Energy & Utilities. On the negative side, 8 market sectors saw losses ranging from -0.04 percent in Telecom & IT to -1.78 percent in Insurance. Overall market breadth was negative, with 41 advancers and 72 decliners registering an AD ratio of 0.57, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.

Meanwhile, Tadawul and Standard and Poor’s Indexes (S&P) signed an agreement on Wednesday under which Standard and Poor’s have become authorized to use real-time Tadawul price and other data to create indexes. These indexes may measure the performance of the Saudi stock market and can be used as the underlying for third party investment products such as mutual funds, ETFs and other financial products that enable investors in Saudi and abroad to participate in the performance of the Saudi stock market.

Tadawul CEO Abdullah Suweilmy said: “Tadawul is delighted to welcome Standard and Poor’s to the growing list of authorized index providers offering Saudi benchmark indexes.

This means that the Saudi market will get increased exposure to investors around the world, and the ever growing pool of international and Saudi asset managers, brokers and investors who want products that benchmark the performance of the Saudi market can now also use the services of Standard and Poor’s.”

Robert Shakotko, managing director of Standard and Poor’s Index Services., said “Standard and Poor’s is committed to providing our clients, both in Saudi Arabia and throughout the world, with comprehensive and timely index coverage of all world markets.”

— With input from agencies