Shares in Saudi Arabia finished in positive territory after Ahmed Alkholifey, the governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama), said he was comfortable with liquidity levels at Saudi banks.
Mr Alkholifey’s remarks, delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, led to a surge in bank shares, offsetting a mixed set of fourth-quarter results from Saudi blue chips.
The Tadawul closed up 0.3 per cent at 6,875.87.
NCB and Banque Saudi Fransi led the way with gains of 4 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively, with Al Rajhi Bank and Saudi British Bank also rising.
The gains offset a 0.6 per cent drop by Sabic. The petrochemicals giant yesterday announced a 48 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit, although this came in below an average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Shares in Etihad Etisalat fell by 0.6 per cent after the telco announced a loss of 71 million Saudi riyals for the quarter, compared with a 10.6m riyal profit a year ago.
Dar Al Arkan shares closed unchanged, despite the developer’s fourth-quarter profits falling by 24 per cent on lower property sales.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index was little changed for much of the day, slipping slightly at the close to finish down 0.1 per cent at 3,690.39. wArabtec Holding led big name, its shares closing up 1.4 per cent at Dh1.45 following the announcement of a board meeting next week. Emaar Properties and Du dragged the index lower, closing off 1.1 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.
Shares in Abu Dhabi ended a quiet day 0.2 per cent higher at 4,704.7, buoyed by gains by FGB and Aldar Properties.
jeverington@thenational.ae
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