Major stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trade on Wednesday, tracking Asian shares as persistent worries about interest rates and inflation remained a key focus for investors.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.39%. Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index dropped 1.5%, dragged down by a 2.4% fall in Al Rajhi Bank and a 2.9% decline in Sahara International Petrochemical Company.
Oil prices, a key catalyst for the Gulf’s financial market, skidded more than $6 a barrel amid a push by US President Joe Biden to bring down soaring fuel costs.
Most Gulf bourses rebound but investors cautious on growth fears
Seven oil companies are set to meet Biden on Thursday, under pressure from the White House to drive down fuel prices as they make record profits.
The energy index in Saudi Arabia was down 0.6%.
The main share index in Dubai, the Middle East’s travel and tourism hub, retreated 1.4%, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties declining 2.8%.
In Abu Dhabi, the index fell 1.2%, hit by a 1.1% drop in First Abu Dhabi Bank, United Arab Emirates’ biggest lender.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the US Federal Reserve will deliver another 75-basis-point interest rate hike next month, followed by a half-percentage-point rise in September, and won’t scale back to quarter-percentage-point moves until November at the earliest.
The Qatari index lost 0.2%, with Commercial Bank trading 1.1% lower.
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