Dubai: Gulf stock markets may stay firm on Monday after a fresh rise of oil prices in early Asian trade brought Brent crude above $39 a barrel for the first time since December.
Bourses in the Gulf rose sharply on Sunday on the belief that oil prices had bottomed out, with the Saudi and Dubai indexes each surging 2.9 percent, so oil's recovery has already been factored in to some extent.
Nevertheless, strong trading volumes and positive short-term technicals suggest stocks' rally could continue for a while. The Saudi index, last at 6,396 points, has no significant technical resistance before the 100-day average, now at 6,567 points; a return to the average, last hit in July 2015, looks reasonable given the change in market sentiment.
The Dubai index, last at 3,344 points, faces no significant chart barrier before the 3,500-point area, which acted as support last September and resistance in November, and which roughly coincides with the 200-day average.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan is up 0.5 percent.
Reuters
