(Bloomberg) -- Israeli equities climbed the most in the Middle East as dual-listed firms caught up with U.S. gains from Thursday.
The country's TA-35 benchmark rose as much as 1.7%. Stocks that are also listed in the U.S., including Azrieli Group Ltd, Bank Leumi Le-Israel BM and ICL Group Ltd, were among the biggest gainers on Sunday.
Elsewhere, gauges in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar rose, with Brent crude staying above $50 a barrel in the past two weeks.
Egypt's benchmark was the biggest loser after the central bank put monetary easing on pause amid fears over the effect of a new strain of the coronavirus on global markets. Dubai shares slipped after the government said it expects to spend 57.1 billion dirhams ($15.5 billion) next year to cushion the blow from the pandemic.
Indexes in the region were mostly trading below their average volume in the past 30 days amid the year-end holidays.
“Although the liquidity is thin, we believe with the concerns around the new strain of coronavirus settling down a bit, we can see investors continue to position in the reopening and cyclical recovery plays in travel, tourism, banks, petrochemical and real-estate sectors,” said Divye Arora, money manager at Daman Investments in Dubai. “Oil price not breaking below 50 level is also supportive for the regional markets.”
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MIDDLE EASTERN MARKETS:
- Egypt's EGX 30 falls 1%
- Commercial International Bank 0.9%; Eastern Co. -0.8%; Talaat Moustafa Group -0.9%
- Cleopatra Hospital rises 5.3%
- Read: Cleopatra Board Approves Acquisition of Alameda Healthcare
- Dubai Financial Market General Index fell 0.5%
- DXB Entertainments extends losses to about 18% since Dec. 20, when Meraas Holding LLC offered to delist the troubled park operator
- Damac Properties closes 3.5% lower
- Read: Damac Sees UAE Property Market Recovery in Two Years, Zawya Says
- Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index rises 0.4%
- Sabic +0.8%; Saudi Kayan +3.6%; Al Rajhi Bank +0.3%
- Aramco erases earlier loses, closing 0.1% higher after the Saudi Energy Minister announced it discovered 4 oil and gas fields in the kingdom
- Read: Saudi Aramco Discovers 4 Oil and Gas Fields in Kingdom: SPA
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