DUBAI Aug 21 Petrochemical shares boosted Saudi
Arabia’s stock market early on Sunday on the back of strong oil
prices but most share markets in the Gulf were barely changed.

The main Saudi equities index edged up 0.2 percent
in the first half-hour as petrochemical blue chip Saudi Basic
Industries climbed 1.2 percent to 84.50 riyals. It
faces technical resistance at 86-87 riyals, the top of the range
in which it has been trading since April.

Dubai’s stock index also bucked the general flat
trend, gaining 0.3 percent to 3,583 points, rising again to near
technical resistance at its April peak of 3,605 points. Real
estate blue chip Emaar Properties added 0.6 percent.

Qatar’s index was flat. Stocks which surged last week
on hopes they would be included in the FTSE’s emerging markets
index next month, such as Qatar National Bank and
Qatar Insurance, were unchanged to slightly lower.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Louise Ireland)