Gulf Arab stocks continue gaining streak

Gulf stock indexes, from Kuwait to Oman, advanced modestly on Sunday after the price of oil hit a two-and-a-half-year high at the end of last trading week.

The Kuwait Stock Exchange Price Index closed 0.79 per cent higher at 6,504.97. The countries' oil exports account for 95 per cent of its state revenues, Xinhua reported.

The price of oil climbed to the highest level, above $67 per barrel (159 liters) since mid-2015 on January 3 amid unrest in Iran and the "bomb cyclone" hit the US East Coast and the Midwest, dragging temperatures down to minus 40 degrees Celsius.

In Dubai, the DFM General Index climbed 0.22 per cent higher to finish at 3,471.09. Arabtec, the biggest construction firm in the United Arab Emirates, led the charts by gaining 6.53 per cent.

Shares of the world's third biggest port operator DP World which are traded on the Nasdaq Dubai closed even at $24.99. Earlier in the day, DP World said in an e-mailed statement it invested over 1 billion dollars in global trade in 2017.

The Saudi Arabian Tadawul All-Share Index in Riyadh increased by 0.56 per cent, finishing at 7,317.65 as all industry sector indexes posted an increase.

On Saturday, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud ordered to provide inflation allowances for citizens to ease the expected rise in the cost of living after the newly enforced 5 per cent value added tax (VAT), Al Arabiya reported.

The king also instructed to pay the annual grant provided to employees working for the government sector and to be calculated from January 1.

The stated grants include payment of a monthly living allowance of $267 for civil and military employees for one year, and a reward of $1,333 for military personnel participating in the front lines of military operations in the southern borders of the Kingdom.

In addition to pensions paid by the General Organization for Social Insurance for beneficiaries, $133 will be granted for one year.

In Muscat, the Omani market gauge MSM 30 Index finished Sunday trading 0.28 per cent higher at 5,119.18.

--IANS

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