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The Saudi index led the rise in most of the major stock exchanges in the Gulf, during the weekend session, despite the continued decline in crude oil prices, while the Abu Dhabi market index fell.

And by 12:32 (GMT), Brent crude contracts, the standard for December delivery, decreased by 79 cents, or 1.01 percent, to trade at $ 77.3 a barrel.

And US West Texas Intermediate crude contracts for November delivery fell 85 cents, or 1.14 percent, to $73.98 a barrel.

The Saudi market index rose 0.98 percent and closed at 11495.7 points, supported by collective gains for banking and petrochemical shares, led by Al-Rajhi Bank, the National Bank of Saudi Arabia and SABIC.

In the UAE, the Dubai Stock Exchange index rose 0.67 percent to 2,845.5 points, supported by gains in real estate shares, as the shares of “Emaar” and its unit “Emaar Development” increased by 1.24 percent and 2.11 percent, respectively.

The Abu Dhabi market index fell by 0.41 percent to 7698.8 points, and Gulf Cement shares led losses, down by 7.34 percent, and First Abu Dhabi Bank fell by 1.66%.

The Qatar Stock Exchange index rose 0.47 percent to 11485.2 points, supported by strong gains in banking shares, led by the National Bank of Qatar, up by 2.56 percent, and the petrochemical producer “Industries Qatar” increased by 1.38 percent.

The Bahrain index rose 0.14 percent to 1705.6 points, and the “Duty Free Shops” and “Seef Real Estate” shares led the gains, up by 0.85 percent and 0.56 percent, respectively.

The first index in the Kuwait market fell by 0.11 percent to 7496.5 points, and the “Deira” real estate share led the losses, down by 6.32 percent, and the National Bank of Kuwait lost 0.21 percent.

The Muscat Stock Exchange index settled at 3942.5 points, with a tendency to decline slightly by 0.02 percent, driven by losses in the industrial shares, led by the “Safa Foods” and “Al-Jazeera Steel” shares, declining by 18.87 percent and 4.23 percent, respectively.

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