Gulf stocks rallied in early trade on Tuesday

Major Gulf stock markets rebounded in early trade on Tuesday as robust financial results outweighed pessimism over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in China.

Oil prices fell for a sixth session on Tuesday on concern the spread of the virus could weaken economic growth and demand for oil. But Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the market impact was “primarily driven by psychological factors and extremely negative expectations … despite its very limited impact on global oil demand.”

In Abu Dhabi, the index .ADI rose 0.6% as the biggest bank in the United Arab Emirates, First Abu Dhabi Bank FAB, advanced 0.8% after posting a 5% increase in fourth-quarter profit. Emirates Telecom Group ETISALAT.AD was up 0.9%.

Dubai’s index .DFMGI edged up 0.1% after four days of declines. Dubai Islamic Bank DISB.DU gained 0.4% and National Central Cooling Co (Tabreed) TABR.DU jumped 5.3%.

Tabreed reported fiscal-year profit rose more than 10% rise to 472.5 million dirhams ($128.65 million) and proposed a cash dividend of 10.5 fils per share for the year 2019.

Saudi Arabia’s index .TASI was up 0.3% after five sessions of losses. National Commercial Bank 1180.SE and Saudi Basic Industries 2010 both rose 0.6%.

Walaa Cooperative Insurance 8060.SE increased 3.4% after its shareholders approve a merger with Metlife AIG ANB 8011.SE.

Saudi Aramco 2222.SE slipped 0.3% to 34.15 riyals.

In Qatar, the index .QSI gained 0.2%, after four sessions of losses.

The Gulf’s largest bank, Qatar National Bank .QNBK.QA, was up 0.5% and Qatar International Islamic Bank QIIB.QA, which is slated to report annual results on Tuesday, added 0.4%.