Saudi shares received momentum from the petrochemical and telecom sectors closing in the green after recovering losses incurred in the first part of the session.

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Saudi stock exchange gained 0.45 percent on Sunday, closing at 6,420.48 points.

The petrochemical climbed by 2.87 percent on Sunday in response to the crude prices which closed on Friday above $82 a barrel fueling expectations of rising profits for the petrochemical firms.

The sector activity for the day was mostly positive with nine out of 15 sectors closing with gains ranging from 0.01 percent by the Cement sector to 2.72 percent by the Petrochemical Industries sector. On the other hand losing sectors ranged from -0.16 percent losses by the hotel and tourism sector to -1.03 percent losses by the real estate development sector. The overall market breadth for the day was negative with 58 advancers against 71 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 0.82. The liquidity for the day reached SR4.14 billion, the Financial Transaction House said in its daily market commentary.

“The Saudi market gains can be attributed to third quarter earnings, rising oil prices and the rally at global markets,” Saudi analyst Khalid Harethi told the Dubai-based CNBC Arabiya economic network.

However, he said that the banking sector which lost 1 percent on Sunday, was putting pressure on the market due to negative third quarter expectations regarding the volume of toxic loans.

United Arab Emirates shares also scored fresh gains on Sunday, propelled by oil prices and third quarter earnings, analysts said.

The benchmark of the Dubai exchange gained 1.57 percent on Sunday, closing at 1,749 points, while the all-share index of the Abu Dhabi stock exchange went up 0.7 percent, closing at 2,704 points.

Kuwaiti shares also inched up, receiving support mainly from the banking sector.

Kuwait’s KSE all-share index gained 0.26 percent on Sunday, to cross the 7,000-point barrier and close at 7,013 points.

Jordanian shares were volatile on Sunday due to a liquidity crunch and hesitation on the part of investors who prefer to take new positions after the release of third quarter results, analysts said.

The all-share index of the Amman Stock Exchange gained 0.1 percent on Sunday, closing at 2.330 points.

Egyptian stocks were the region’s main loser on Sunday mainly due to concerns over Orascom Telecom’s investments in Algeria, Egyptian analyst Mohsen Adel said.

The AGX30 index, measuring the performance of Egypt’s 30 most active stocks, shed 0.8 percent, closing at 6,823 points.