JEDDAH — Most Gulf markets rose Monday as investors bought stocks oversold in recent days on euro zone fears, while a rise in oil prices helped improve local sentiment.

The Saudi index closed above a key psychological level as buyers sought bargains and oil price rises buoyed photochemical stocks.

The stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index posted its biggest one-day gain since April 28, rising 0.71 percent to 7,029.35 points.

Heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries Corp rose 0.5 percent.

Having hit a 2012 low Friday, Brent crude rose 73 cents to $107.87 a barrel by 1246 GMT on hopes China could take steps to stimulate growth and lift fuel demand at the world’s second largest oil user.

Dubai’s index made its largest one-day gain in four weeks, climbing 1.5 percent to 1,488 points.

The Abu Dhabi bourse ended up 0.2 percent.

Qatar benchmark rose 0.2 percent to 8,423 points.

Kuwait measure slipped 0.1 percent to 6,415 points.

Oman index rose 0.1 percent to 5,623 points.
Bahrain measure declined 0.2 percent to 1,146 points.

Egypt measure climbed 1.8 percent to 4,878 points.
Vodafone Qatar climbing 1.3 percent to reach its highest close in at least two years.

However, the specter of European sovereign debt and a potential ’Grexit’ event — Greece leaving the euro zone - would continue to be a primary driver of regional trading on a lack of domestic catalysts.

"The valuations for some of the names, even a couple of weeks ago, were very attractive but, recently, international sentiment has been driving the market lower," said Amer Khan, fund manager at Shuaa Asset Management, referring to exchanges in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
"Many stocks have been oversold recently so we were expecting a pick-up and that it what we’ve got today. But we will continue to take our lead from international markets as there are no local catalysts."
Volumes, which slumped on Sunday, recovered somewhat - the number of shares traded on the Dubai exchange was more than double Sunday’s figure. This, traders said, was a good sign as investors were not dumping stocks in volatile markets and, instead, were waiting to return when opportunities arose.
"We’ve recovered from 1,460-1,465 and there were minimal volumes on the downside as investors were not willing to sell at those levels," said Musa Haddad, head of MENA equity desk at National Bank of Abu Dhabi, about Dubai’s bourse.

Oil prices swell

Oil prices rose as encouraging signs about the economy in the United States and China tempered concerns about Greece’s debt crisis. Benchmark oil rose $1.09 to finish at $92.57 per barrel Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude increased $1.67 to $108.81 per barrel in London.

It was a rare bright day for oil in May, which is down almost 12 percent this month on concerns about slowing global economic conditions. Two developments raised expectations that oil demand may improve in the US and China, the world’s two biggest economies.

A survey by National Association of Business Economists showed economists are slightly more optimistic about a recovery in job and housing markets. — SG/Agencies