The Kuwait Stock Exchange rebounds on the first trading day after...

Wide-ranging gains pushed Kuwait’s shares up – today, Sunday – after the stock market closed for two sessions in the wake of the death of the Emir of the country, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, last Tuesday, while the performance of other indices was calm in early trading.

The primary market index jumped 2.7% with the recovery of most of its shares, before continuing to rise during morning trading, jumping about 3%.

Heavyweight National Bank of Kuwait gained 2.9%, while Kuwait Finance House rose 3.3%.

AndThe National Bank of Kuwait said – today, Sunday – that it and the Kuwait Finance House signed a joint credit facility agreement of one billion dinars (3.27 billion dollars) with the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, to finance capital projects.

Last Wednesday morning, the Kuwait Stock Exchange announced the suspension of its operations to mourn the death of the Emir of the country, provided that it will resume work in normal times, starting today, Sunday, October 4.

Kuwaiti shares were hit hard on Tuesday, as it fell 2.2% in its biggest daily drop since last April, before the official announcement of the death of the Emir of the country, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Last Saturday, the Central Bank of Kuwait confirmed its commitment to the strength of the dinar and the stability of the exchange rate.

The rest of the Gulf stock exchanges

The Saudi benchmark index fell 0.3%, as oil giant Aramco lost 1.4%, and Al-Rajhi Bank fell 0.6%.

Dubai’s main index fell 0.6% under pressure from Dubai Islamic Bank’s losses, which lost 1.2%, and Emaar Properties’s 1.4% decline.

The Abu Dhabi stock market index was flat, and the share of the largest UAE bank – First Abu Dhabi Bank – rose 0.2%.

In Qatar, the index fell 0.4%, affected by the decline in the share of the Commercial Bank of Qatar, 2.3%, and the share of Qatar Petrochemical Industries, which fell 0.8%.