Most of the Gulf stock exchanges closed higher, ahead of the US central bank’s interest rate decision
Most Gulf stock markets closed higher today, Wednesday, following fears of a banking crisis subsided and investor sentiment was boosted by expectations that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates less than the previous times.
Markets are now awaiting the monetary policy decision of the world’s largest central bank, which will be issued later today, and most analysts expect the bank to raise interest rates by 25 basis points to curb inflation, but Goldman Sachs said that not raising would be a “justified” step.
Most Gulf countries peg their currencies to the US dollar, and Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar usually follow the example of the United States in their monetary policy.
The Qatari stock index rose 1%, continuing its gains from the previous session, with the rise of all sectors, led by the industrial and financial services sectors.
Qatar Islamic Bank rose 0.7%, Qatar International Islamic Bank rose 1.5%, while Industries Qatar jumped 5.2%.
In Kuwait, the Kuwait Stock Exchange index rose 0.28% to reach the level of 7061.64 points. 3.151 million shares were traded through 9,910 cash transactions, at a value of 47.3 million Kuwaiti dinars (regarding 143.3 million dollars).
In Abu Dhabi, the index rose 0.6%, following declining for two sessions, supported by a 5.4% jump in ADNOC Gas shares and an increase in Alpha Abu Dhabi Holding by 2.8%.
First Abu Dhabi Bank, the largest lender in the UAE, and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the third largest bank in the country, advanced 1.6% and 2.5%, respectively.
And Dubai’s main index continued to rise from previous sessions, closing up 0.4%, and was supported by gains in most sectors. Emaar Properties rose 1.6%, and Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation rose 2.5%. Emirates NBD, the emirate’s largest bank, rose 0.8%.
As for the main index of Saudi Arabia, it fell 0.1%, ending gains that lasted three sessions. The index fell due to losses in the materials, health and financial services sectors. The share of Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group fell 1.9%, and the share of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) fell 1.2%.
Al-Rajhi Bank, the largest Islamic bank in the world by assets, fell 2%, the largest drop in a day in a month, and came with trading without dividends. However, the share of Al-Mouwasat Medical Services Company jumped 10%, which is the highest rise in a session since March 2020.
On Wednesday, the company announced an increase in net profit for the full year, exceeding analysts’ expectations.
Outside the Gulf region, the leading stock index in Egypt fell 0.5%, ending gains that lasted two sessions, due to losses in almost all sectors. Fawry banking services fell 2.8%, and Telecom Egypt fell 4.2%. Egypt had decided to suspend the sale of a stake in the state-controlled company due to market conditions.
(Archyde.com, The New Arab)