And Egypt's EFG-Hermes rose after the lender
said it would to buy a majority stake in privately-owned Lebanese rival, Credit
Libanais, helping the Cairo index end a four-session losing streak.
EFG added 2 percent as Egypt's benchmark
climbed 1.5 percent. Other Middle East indexes moved less than 1 percent in
lackluster trade.
NBK ended at 1.32 dinars, its highest
finish since Nov. 30, 2008.
"NBK's results were positive and so
investors could be buying the stock to participate in the rights issue,"
said Naser Al-Nafisi, general manager for Al-Joman Center for Economic
Consultancy in Kuwait.
The rights issue, which was approved in
March, will raise $113 million and is priced at 0.5 dinar, a significant
discount on Tuesday's closing price, although this is likely to fall after
dilution.
In July, NBK reported a 10 percent rise
in second-quarter profits.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) made
a slight gain on Tuesday and ended at 6,161.76 points, up.06 percent. The
sector activity for the day was mixed with seven sectors closing with gains and
8 sectors closing with losses, the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in
its daily market commentary.
Gains ranged from 0.26 percent in the
Building & Construction sector and 0.69 percent in Petrochemical Industries
sector. On the other hand, the losses ranged from 0.26 percent by Telecommunication
& Information Technology sector to 1.59 percent by the Hotel & Tourism
sector. The overall market breadth for the day was negative with 51 advancers
against 68 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 0.75.
Dubai's Emaar Properties and Emirates
NBD rose 1.9 and 2.1 percent respectively.
"Dubai is looking stable, but I
wouldn't call it great and it should continue to move sideways," said Vyas
Jayabhanu, head of investments, Al Dhafra Financial Broker.
"Earnings were lukewarm, with some
coming below expectations and others about average. There is no catalyst for
investors to start picking up shares aggressively."
Dubai's index climbed 0.9 percent in its
largest advance for two weeks, but this rise is unlikely to herald a shift from
its sideways trading range.
"Markets should be flat to lower on
nearly non-existent volumes," said a Dubai trader who asked not to be
identified.
"What's happening is not a result
of only Ramadan and summer holidays, it's more than that and is going to run
until the end of year," the trader added, referring primarily to UAE
bourses.
Qatar's benchmark climbed 0.3 percent as
2.2 million shares were traded, barely a third of a 12-month daily average.
Industries Qatar rose 0.5 percent and
Qatar Islamic Bank added 0.7 percent. Gainers topped losers 12 to two.
"Investors are building positions,
particularly in banks, which is a good indicator for positive investor
appetite," said Samer Al-Jaouni, general manager of Middle East Financial
Brokerage Co.
Bank Muscat rose 0.5 percent to a
two-month high, helping Oman's index end a four-session losing run.
"It's a problem of liquidity in the
market -- the investor base is very small, although some volumes are coming
into Bank Muscat, Jazeera Steel and Voltamp Energy," said Joice Mathew,
United Securities head of research.
"People are hoping for a breakout
in the market, but without increased volumes this wouldn't be
sustained."
Voltamp and Jazeera Steel climbed 2.2 percent and 0.3 percent
respectively.
- With input from agencies
