Dubai index closed higher on Friday, boosted by a 15% surge in lender Mashreqbank (<MASB.DU>), while Abu Dhabi stocks slipped on volatility in crude markets.
Middle East crude benchmarks were mixed on Friday, with Oman and Murban lower and Dubai edging higher on the last trading session of September.
In Dubai, the main share index (<.DFMGI>) rose 0.7%, driven by gains in heavyweight real estate and financial stocks as Blue-chip developer Emaar Properties (<EMAR.DU>) jumped 1.4% and Dubai developer's construction unit Emaar Development (<EMAARDEV.DU>) advanced 2.9%.
Mashreqbank shares have gained following a report on Wednesday that the lender has received bids from several companies to purchase stake in its payment unit.
Among other stocks, low-cost carrier Air Arabia (<AIRA.DU>) gained 1.5% after its unit announced a new direct flight to Moscow.
Health insurance provider Hayah Insurance (<HAYAH.AD>) declined nearly 10% after major shareholder Gulf Insurance Group sold its entire holding in the company.
Separately, Abu Dhabi-based Hospital operator Burjeel Holdings set a price range for its initial public offering (IPO) at 2 to 2.45 dirham ($0.5446 to $0.6671) a share, implying an equity value of $3.3 billion at the top end.
The company intends to sell around 550.7 million shares, or 11%, of issued share capital including 200 million new shares to be issued by Burjeel.
