Major stock markets in the Gulf were mixed in early trade on Wednesday following a decline in oil prices, while growing bets of imminent US rate cuts improved sentiments.
Crude prices - a catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets - dipped as the impact from Hurricane Beryl dissipated and inflation data highlighted stubbornly weak consumer demand in top crude-importer China. Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index edged 0.1% higher, helped by a 0.5% rise in Al Taiseer Group.
The kingdom has raised a total of $12.35 billion from a secondary share sale in Saudi Aramco, after the Saudi oil giant exercised an over-allotment option, according to a document seen by Reuters.
However, shares of Aramco were down 0.2%. Dubai’s main share index added 0.1%, with Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corp gaining 1.3% and budget airliner Air Arabia was up 1.2%.
Gulf markets end mixed ahead of Fed chair’s testimony
The US is “no longer an overheated economy” with a job market that has cooled from its pandemic-era extremes, and, in many ways, is back where it was before the health crisis, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks to Congress, suggesting the case for interest rate cuts is becoming stronger.
Monetary policy in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is usually guided by the Fed’s decisions as most regional currencies are pegged to the US dollar.
The Abu Dhabi index was down 0.1%. In Qatar, the index eased 0.1%, with Qatar International Islamic Bank losing 0.8%.
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