(Bloomberg) -- Dubai stocks were the biggest gainers across Gulf markets after oil, the region's main source of revenue, capped its best week since 2009.
The DFM General Index climbed a third day to the highest level in more than two months, triggering a technical pattern that suggests bulls have taken control. Emaar Properties PJSC was the biggest contributor to the gauge's 1.7 percent advance after Al Khaleej newspaper reported the developer signed an insurance settlement of 1.2 billion dirhams ($327 million) for a fire that engulfed one of its hotels on New Year's Eve.
The DFM General Index's MACD line signals a bullish trend has taken hold.
“Oil climbed 15 percent last week and that has a strong impact on investor sentiment, while the news on Emaar's settlement for the Address hotel fire” is good for the stock, Tariq Qaqish, the managing director for asset management at Al Mal Capital PSC, said by phone from Dubai.
Brent crude, a pricing benchmark for about half the world's oil, advanced to $54.46 a barrel on Friday after OPEC approved its first supply cut in eight years. Most governments across the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, home to about a third of the world's oil, rely on energy sales to fund spending. While Dubai's economy doesn't hinge on crude sales, it does depend on its neighbors for trade, commerce and tourism.
The DFM General Index's Moving Average Convergence-Divergence, known as the MACD and used to gauge changes in an asset's direction or trend, suggested Dubai's stocks may climb further. The MACD line rose above zero for the first time since September and remained above the red “signal” line.
Highlights from across the Middle East:
* Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index rose 0.5 percent
* DP World jumped 9.5 percent, the most in almost a year, after starting a $3.8 billion joint venture with Canada's Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec
* Emaar Properties gained 3.1 percent
* Doha's QE Index and Muscat's MSM30 Index climbed 1 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively
* The ADX General Index in Abu Dhabi declined 1.1 percent
* Kuwait's SE Price Index and Bahrain's BB All Share Index fell at least 0.2 percent
* Egypt's EGX30 Index added 0.7 percent
* The TA-25 Index retreated a fifth day, declining 0.4 percent in Tel Aviv, the longest losing streak since Nov. 3.
--With assistance from Sharon Wrobel To contact the reporters on this story: Arif Sharif in Dubai at asharif2@bloomberg.net, Dana El Baltaji in Dubai at delbaltaji@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Barwell at tbarwell@bloomberg.net, Stuart Metzler
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