Most Gulf markets rise as oil firms; Dubai falls

Most Gulf stock markets rose in early trade on Tuesday, as oil prices inched higher, with the Saudi index extending gains for a fifth consecutive session, while bluechip stocks dragged the Dubai benchmark lower.

Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - edged up after industry executives flagged concerns about limited spare capacity in the market and uncertainty over Russian supplies while demand from top crude importer China is recovering.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index advanced 0.7%, led by a 2.4% gain in Riyad Bank, while Saudi Telecom Company jumped 4.5%, on course to extend gains for a fifth session, after the telecom operator received nod on Monday from General Authority for Competition to sell its entire stake in Contact Center Company.

In Abu Dhabi, the index gained 0.4%, helped by a 1% rise in International Holding Co (IHC), a day after the firm and Abu Dhabi state holding firm ADQ announced that they intend to create a multi-asset class investment manager.

IHC - the United Arab Emirates' largest publicly traded company worth more than $240 billion - on Monday in a separate bourse filing said it intended to invest in Presight AI Holding's initial public offering (IPO).

The Qatari index was up 0.2%, helped by a 0.7% increase in the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank.

Dubai's main share index fell 0.3%, hit by a 0.7% fall in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 0.4% decrease in sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank.