DUBAI, Jan 25 (Reuters): Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar were mixed in low-volume trade on Sunday as most countries in the Middle East closed their bourses following the death of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.
His successor King Salman pledged continuity in energy and foreign policies and moved quickly to appoint younger men as his heirs. He appeared to settle the succession issue for years to come by naming a deputy crown prince from his dynasty's next generation.
Qatar's index rose 1.3 per cent. Qatar National Bank was the main support, surging 3.9 per cent.
The bank will likely be the main local beneficiary of any inflows to emerging market funds as a result of the European Central Bank's plan for massive regional monetary stimulus.
The ECB's proposed quantitive easing pushed European stocks to seven-year highs on Friday, while MSCI's emerging market index, in which stocks from the UAE and Qatar are included, added 0.8 per cent.
Abu Dhabi's index rose 1.0 per cent as shares in First Gulf Bank jumped 3.9 per cent. The lender said on Sunday that its board would review its 2014 financial results on Wednesday and investors may be betting on a positive surprise.
Dubai's benchmark gave up early gains to close 0.5 per cent lower, mostly due to declines in property stocks.
Emaar Malls dropped 3.2 per cent, its parent Emaar Properties fell 0.9 per cent and Deyaar Development tumbled 4.2 per cent.
Deyaar's fourth-quarter profit fell 43 per cent, Reuters calculated based on major shareholder Dubai Islamic Bank's (DIB) financial statement that was published on Sunday.
The bank itself gained 0.9 per cent after its fourth-quarter profit rose 64.1 per cent to 850 million dirhams ($231.4 million), according to Reuters calculations. Analysts polled by Reuters on average forecast DIB's quarterly profit would be 678.62 million dirhams.
The bank's board also proposed a 0.4 dirhams cash dividend for 2014, up from 0.25 dirhams in 2013 and above the average estimate of 0.31 dirhams.
Trading volumes were low in Qatar and the UAE compared with the last few weeks.
Stock markets in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain were closed on Sunday because of King Abdullah's death and Egypt's bourse was closed for Police Day and Revolution Day.
