JEDDAH: The Saudi stock index rose 0.4 percent on Thursday.

PetroRabigh climbed 2.2 percent after saying it would pay a cash dividend of SR0.5 per share for 2014.

It is the first time that PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical, is paying a dividend since at least 2010, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Takween closed up 1.2 percent at SR81.50, well off its intra-day high of SR88.25, in unusually heavy trade. On Wednesday it had soared 9.2 percent.

Saudi Ground Services pulled back 2.5 percent to SR72.50, ending a bull run that began with its listing at SR50 last Thursday.

Egyptian stocks fell because of security worries after bloody clashes with militants in Sinai.

Gulf markets were mixed as the Greek debt crisis and soft oil prices were offset by the bargain hunting of local retail investors on dips.

Dubai’s index edged down 0.1 percent as Amlak Finance slipped 5.0 percent.

However, construction firm Drake & Scull surged 11.5 percent in its heaviest trade since October after saying it had raised its limit for ownership by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nationals to 100 percent from 49 percent. GCC nationals owned 57 percent on Wednesday.

Abu Dhabi’s benchmark share index gained 0.6 percent as telecommunications operator Etisalat climbed 1.5 percent, rebounding after a week-long decline.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. dropped 5.4 percent in thin trade after the company said in a brief statement that it was “not engaged in merger discussions with any government or other entity.”

The stock had risen 5.7 percent on Wednesday after sources told Reuters that Abu Dhabi might merge the company into another state-owned business to make its debts more manageable and try to turn around its performance.

Qatar’s market edged up 0.6 percent as Qatar National Bank, which had lost 2.1 percent on Wednesday, rebounded 1.1 percent.