0830 GMT - Banking stocks help lift Saudi Arabia's bourse after top lender Al Rajhi Bank announced a 2.25 billion riyals ($599.90 million) dividend payout for the first half of the year.
Shares in Rajhi, the largest listed Saudi bank, gains 0.3 percent. The stock hit a one-year intraday high in the previous session.
Saudi Investment Bank climbs 2 percent after posting interim earnings. It said second-quarter profit rose 44 percent, compared with same period last year.
Banking shares index adds 0.8 percent. Heavyweight chemical maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) climbs 1.1 percent.
Saudi index rises 0.6 percent to 7,632 points, closing the gap to the previous peak; June's 14-month high. ----------------------------------------------------------------
0745 GMT - Most Gulf markets edge higher in muted trade and will likely remain in a sideways trend while investors await second-quarter earnings.
Many market participants are away on summer holidays, which has dulled activity. Ramadan - the Muslim month of fasting - is due to start next week and will likely further dampen trading volumes.
Dubai's benchmark rises 0.5 percent to 2,271 points and Abu Dhabi's index advances 0.5 percent to 3,853 points.
Both markets are up more than 30 percent this year and analysts are bullish for the rest of 2013, predicting another buying spree after the summer if company earnings broadly meet or exceed expectations.
Qatar's bourse rises 0.08 percent to 9,375 points to be up 12.1 percent this year, while Oman's measure slips 0.2 percent to 6,428 points.
Kuwait's bourse has suspended trading on some small-cap companies for failing to report their first-quarter earnings. The index climbs 0.3 percent to 7,956 points.
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0555 GMT - Egypt's bourse is likely to rally on Thursday after the army overthrew president Mohamed Mursi; its announcement of a transition plan to the next elections limits uncertainty, while so far there has been less bloodshed across the country than feared.
General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, head of the armed forces, appointed the head of the constitutional court as interim head of state. His detailed transition plan - including a panel to review the constitution and a national reconciliation committee that would include youth movements - will partially reassure investors.
"There should be a positive market reaction because Egypt has a new leader in place during the transition and there is a clear agenda," says Sebastien Henin, portfolio manager at The National Investor in Abu Dhabi.
"It removes the uncertainty we had with Mursi in power and a lot of unrest."
There is speculation that some Egyptian businessmen who went abroad under Mursi's administration could return if a more technocratic government is appointed. Such a government could conceivably be more effective in negotiating an emergency loan with the International Monetary Fund.
Huge risks remain, including the possibility of a violent confrontation between Islamist and secular forces over the long term. A timetable for the next elections has not been revealed.
However, "for people who were out of the market, it's the right time to put in some money. We are not out of the woods yet but it deserves some allocations," Henin adds.
Cairo's benchmark index is down 9 percent year-to-date; it surged nearly 5 percent on Tuesday after the army said it would intervene, then stalled on Wednesday as investors waited to see the result of the intervention.
In Saudi Arabia, shares in Al Rajhi Bank may gain after the country's largest listed lender said it would distribute dividends worth 2.25 billion riyals ($600 million) for the first six months of 2013.
Global market cues are weak, however, with investors cautious ahead of key events including Friday's U.S. jobs data. Asian stocks clawed higher on Thursday morning. U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for the Independence Day holiday. ($1 = 3.7506 Saudi riyals) (Reporting by Nadia Saleem)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-news-mideast-banks-lift-saudi-index-q2-083111252.html
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