January 22 (Reuters) - Major Gulf stock markets rose in early trading on Thursday, in line with global stock trends, after U.S. President Donald Trump backed down from imposing tariffs on eight European countries, boosting investor sentiment.

Trump’s threats to impose tariffs as part of his push to acquire Greenland have fueled tensions and kept markets on edge this week, prompting investors to approach the latest developments cautiously, despite a clear easing of their concerns.

The broader MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan rose by about one percent.

The Saudi index rose 0.7 percent, boosted by a 1.7 percent increase in shares of Al Rajhi Bank and a 0.7 percent rise in shares of the National Commercial Bank, the kingdom's largest bank.

Data released by the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) on Wednesday showed that the Kingdom's crude oil exports reached their highest level in more than two and a half years in November.

The index in Dubai rose by one percent, with leading real estate developer Emaar Properties climbing 1.4 percent.

The index in Abu Dhabi rose by 0.7 percent.

The Qatari index also rose 0.5 percent, boosted by a 1.8 percent increase in shares of Qatar Islamic Bank.

(Reporting by Atiq Sharif from Bangalore - Prepared for publication in Arabic by Salma Najm - Edited by Doaa Mohamed)