Saudi Arabian shares gained in early trade on Tuesday following a rise in crude prices on demand hopes, while other major markets traded mixed.
Brent crude oil LCOc1 futures were up 46 cents, or 0.7%, to $69.21 a barrel by 0648 GMT, after the U.S. drug regulator granted full approval to the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccine, stoking investor hopes that higher fuel demand would follow a potential rise in U.S. coronavirus vaccination rates.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index .TASI firmed 0.1%, with oil giant Saudi Aramco rising 0.6% and Al Rajhi Bank putting on 0.3%.
The value of the kingdom's oil exports in June increased 123% to 61.5 billion riyals ($16.4 billion) from a year earlier while non-oil exports rose by around 41%, official data showed on Tuesday.
In Abu Dhabi, the index fell 0.3%, hit by a 1.2% fall in telecoms firm Etisalat and a 0.4% decline in the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank.
On the other hand, conglomerate International Holding Co (IHC) edged up 0.1%.
IHC, the most valuable company on the Abu Dhabi bourse, is considering acquisitions worth a few billion dollars in total across several sectors, including a real estate developer in Abu Dhabi, its chief executive Syed Basar Shueb told Reuters.
Dubai's main share index added 0.1%, helped by a 0.4% increase in top lender Emirates NBD.
The index also saw some support from property firms including Union Properties, up 2.4%.
Dubai's residential property market is on a steady course, with prices expected to rise modestly over the next couple of years, according to a Reuters poll of housing analysts.
The Qatari index fell 0.2%, pressured by a 0.6% fall in Qatar National Bank, the Gulf's largest lender, and a 0.3% decrease in Commercial Bank.
Commercial Bank borrowed $875 million to refinance existing debt and support general funding requirements, it said in a stock exchange filing on Monday.
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Giles Elgood) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))
