Gulf bourses fell collectively yesterday, pressured by lower energy prices on Friday and fears that major central banks announcing large interest rate hikes aimed at curbing inflation could lead to a global recession.
US and European markets tumbled Friday on fears of a recession due to sharp interest rate hikes.
Crude oil prices, the main catalyst for Gulf financial markets, fell by about 5 percent to their lowest level in eight months on Friday, and the US dollar reached its strongest level in more than two decades, amid fears that higher interest rates would push major economies into recession and thus Decreased demand for oil.
According to “Archyde.com”, the main index in Qatar closed down 1.5 percent to 12,452 points, to record losses for the second session in a row, with 18 shares down out of 20 shares on the index, including Petrochemical Industries Qatar, whose share fell by 3.2 percent. cent.
The Kuwait index fell 2.5 percent to 8,122 points. Shares of National Bank of Kuwait fell 1.7 percent, Kuwait Finance House 2.8 percent, Agility 6.9 percent, Zain 1 percent, and the National Industries Group 5.5 percent. National Investments shares fell 10.3 percent, Al Imtiaz Holding Group fell 8.2 percent, Gulf Cables 7.3 percent, and Kuwait Real Estate 7.1 percent.
The Muscat index fell 0.3 percent to 4,458 points. The Bahrain index fell 1.4 percent to 1,901 points.
In Cairo, the main index of the Egyptian Stock Exchange fell 0.3 percent to 9,895 points, affected by a 2.1 percent decline in Commercial International Bank shares.
Daniel Taqi El-Din, CEO of BD Swiss MENA, said that investor sentiment is increasingly heading towards risk aversion, which could push the market further down.