Stock markets in the Gulf may generally have a firm tone on Sunday because of a positive global climate, while indexes in Saudi Arabia and Dubai could test technical resistance.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6 percent on Friday while Brent oil was at $57.49 a barrel, up 0.5 percent.
The Saudi index, last at 7,011 points, faces resistance on its 200-day average, now at 7,036 points. Stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings just announced by food company Almarai could encourage a test of that barrier.
Almarai posted a net profit of 667 million riyals ($177.9 million), up from 664.3 million riyals a year earlier and above the 621 million riyal average forecast of analysts polled by Reuters.
Bank Albilad’s quarterly profit of 248.1 million riyals, up from 227.8 million riyals, was in line with an average analyst forecast of 248 million riyals. Al Rajhi Bank , with a profit of 2.27 billion riyals versus 2.01 billion riyals, was also in line with estimates.
Meanwhile Dubai’s index, last at 3,673 points, faces resistance on the August peak of 3,681 points.
A surge in Dubai’s trading volume on Thursday to the highest level since February suggests a clean break of resistance is possible in coming days. Any clean break would point up to stronger resistance at 3,737-39 points, the highs in January and February. 
Source: Reuters
