Gulf Stocks Defy Hormuz Tensions with Strong Gains

Gulf stock markets generally rose despite ongoing tension in the Strait of Hormuz and stalled peace talks, according to Reuters.

The region's heavyweight stocks helped drive the gains, with Saudi Arabia's main index increasing by 0.9% to 10,920 due to a 1% rise in Saudi Aramco and a 1.5% gain in Al Rajhi Bank.

Brent crude settled at $88.52 a barrel on Friday, up 1.67%, which suggests that oil prices remain closely tied to Gulf sentiment.

In Qatar, the index added 0.2% to 10,045 with Qatar National Bank rising by 1.5%. Egypt's blue-chip index also gained 1.1% to 55,855, driven in part by a 3.6% increase in Telecom Egypt.