By: Mahmoud Gamal

Mubasher: The Gulf stock markets are expected to see a sideways-to-bullish performance on Thursday as most stocks technically reached attractive price levels, analysts told Mubasher.

Most investors tended to trade on blue chip stocks on Wednesday, amid news of good mergers and improvement of some first-quarter financials.

Traders, especially foreigners, in the GCC bourses are tending to build new positions in blue chip stocks following news on the possible merger between two banks in Saudi Arabia, technical analyst Mohammed Al Shammari said.

Saudi’s Alawwal Bank agreed to start initial talks with Saudi British Bank (SABB) about a merger that could create a bank with assets of nearly $80 billion.

Most blue chips, especially the ones which reached attractive levels, are expected to see accumulation on Thursday, Adnan Al Dulaimi noted.

The current performance of global stocks will increase investors’ appetite for low-priced stocks, capital market analyst Nawaf Al Ajmi told Mubasher.

Translated by: Julian Nabil