DUBAI / Reuters Banking shares boosted Saudi Arabia’s stock index to its highest level this year, while other Gulf markets moved little in quiet trade with some foreign investors absent for New Year holidays. The Saudi index closed up 1.3 percent at 7,257 points in its highest trading volume for two weeks, rising above technical resistance at this year’s …

  DUBAI / Reuters National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the Gulf Arab state’s largest commercial lender, and investment firm KAMCO said they had been invited by the public debt office at the Kuwaiti ministry of finance to participate in a bond issue by the government. A request for proposals has been sent to NBK’s subsidiary NBK Capital to help arrange …

  Bloomberg Egyptian companies unable to repay US-dollar denominated debts after the devaluation of the pound will be allowed to negotiate fixed exchange rates with banks. The move aims to alleviate financial pressure on manufacturers following the central bank’s decision to remove all restrictions on the local currency on Nov. 3. The pound has since lost more than half its …