Gulf bourses may firm up on higher oil prices

Stock markets in the Gulf may tick higher Wednesday on a jump in oil prices to a near four-week high after leading exporter Saudi Arabia said it was determined to halt a supply glut.

Saudi Arabia’s stock market may also find support on positive news emerging from a high-profile investment conference in Riyadh at which the kingdom announced on Tuesday a $500 billion plan to build a business and industrial zone extending into Jordan and Egypt.

Saudi Electricity Co could rise after news on Tuesday that the kingdom will consider selling a large stake in the utility to SoftBank Vision Fund. The Saudi government would retain a controlling stake, the utility said in a statement.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up 8 cents at $58.41 a barrel by 0437 GMT, after settling up 96 cents, or 1.7 percent, on Tuesday.

It followed comments by Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih that the focus remained on reducing oil stocks in industrialized countries to their five-year average and raised the prospect of prolonged output restraint once an OPEC-led supply-cutting pact ends.

Telecom operator Zain Saudi and Advanced Petrochemical Co could also rise on Wednesday.

Zain Saudi swung to a third-quarter net profit of 3 million riyals ($800,043), while Advanced Petrochemical reported a third-quarter profit rise of 10.2 percent to 208.4 million riyals. Source: Reuters