Gulf bourses rise alongside oil, global equities at early trade

Gulf stock markets rose in early trade Wednesday, tracking oil prices and global shares which rallied hard on Japanese tax cut hopes and a rebound in China.

Japan’s Nikkei soared 7.7 percent, its biggest single-day gain since October 2008, apparently galvanized by comments from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who said the government aimed to lower the corporate tax rate by a cumulative 3.3 percentage points over two years.

MSCI’s emerging markets index jumped 2.5 percent and Brent oil edged up towards $50 per barrel.

Dubai’s index jumped 2.5 percent with most stocks positive. Mortgage lender Amlak Finance surged 4.7 percent and was the most traded stock.

Abu Dhabi’s bourse rose 2.2 percent in another broad rally and Qatar climbed 1.0 percent.

Markets in Kuwait and Oman rose 0.6 and 0.2 percent respectively.

Source: Reuters