The Middle East markets are seen opening higher on Sunday as end-of-week gains on international bourses and an upbeat start to the regional earnings season boosts sentiment.

Saudi Arabia's index climbed 2.4 per cent on Saturday, its biggest rise for a month, after some banks' earnings beat analyst forecasts.

'Second quarter results were expected to be better than Q1, so that doesn't come as a big surprise,' says Haissam Arabi, chief executive and fund manager at Gulfmena Alternative Investments.

'Markets were worried more about the macro factors and with that subsiding, we can now look more at the fundamentals.'

Global stocks rose on Friday, recording their best week in nearly a year, with the MSCI world equity index gaining more than 5 per cent -the highest since the 6.6 per cent increase recorded in the week ending July 18, 2009.

Oil prices topped $76 per barrel on demand optimism, posting the biggest weekly increase since late May after a choppy low volume trading session.-Reuters