Tadawul: Saudi stocks rise 2.1 to 7179 points

(MENAFN- Arab News) JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's stock market bounced further from a technical support level on Sunday but other Gulf bourses were little changed. Egypt's market edged up.
The Saudi stock index has been rebounding in the last few days from support at November's two-year low of 6828 points. On Sunday it added 2.1 percent to 7179 points rising above resistance on the November high of 7161 points.
A second straight daily close above that resistance would confirm a clean break triggering a minor double bottom formed by the November lows and pointing up to 7461 points.
However with Brent oil still below $45 a barrel an extended rally by the Saudi market still looks unlikely to many fund managers.
Traders said they were not aware of any positive concrete news behind Sunday's surge and turnover was only moderate suggesting that many local retail investors remain wary of the market even as others buy on dips.
Real estate firm Dar Al-Arkan climbed 2.4 percent and leading petrochemical producer Saudi Basic Industries added 2.6 percent.
Elsewhere in the Gulf Dubai's index rose 0.5 percent to 3290 points in modest turnover. On Thursday it triggered a minor double bottom formed by the November lows; the target of that pattern is 3327 points.
Eight of the 10 most heavily traded Dubai stocks rose with builder Arabtec the most active stock up 0.8 percent.
Abu Dhabi's index edged down 0.2 percent as telecommunications firm Etisalat to be included in MSCI's emerging markets index at the end of this month lost 1.2 percent because of profit-taking.
But Dana Gas the most active stock in Abu Dhabi surged 4.9 percent after saying the British High Court ruling in a longstanding payment dispute had ordered the Kurdish regional government to pay Dana's consortium $100 million within 14 days. It remains unclear whether it will get the money as similar rulings in the past have not resulted in payments actually taking place.
Qatar's index .QSI dropped 0.2 percent as petrochemicals and metals producer Industries Qatar slid 1.2 percent.
Oman's market also fell 0.2 percent in thin trade after credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Oman's sovereign debt citing pressure on state finances from low oil prices.
Egypt's stock index rose 0.6 percent with Palm Hills Development up 2.9 percent after the Al-Borsa newspaper reported the government's New Urban Communities Authority was expected to sign a contract with the firm within days for a major real estate project in New Cairo.
Orascom Telecom Media the most heavily traded stock fell 1.5 percent after the company said it was removing its North Korean subsidiary Koryolink from its consolidated financial statements because sanctions against Pyongyang had affected its ability to operate there.