Major stock markets in the Gulf were mixed in early trade on Wednesday ahead of an annual meeting of central bankers, with the Qatari index falling for a third session.
Markets await hints on the outlook for interest rates when Federal Reserve officials and policy makers from the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan head to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for an annual meeting later this week.
Oil and gas exporting countries in the Gulf tend to follow the Fed’s rate move, as most regional currencies are pegged to the US dollar.
Only the Kuwaiti dinar is pegged to a basket of currencies, which includes the dollar.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index gained 0.4%, helped by a 1.3% rise in petrochemical maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp. Dubai’s main share index gained 0.8%, led by a 1.9% rise in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 1.8% increase in top lender Emirates NBD.
In Abu Dhabi, the index eased 0.1%. Separately, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, one of the world’s largest, will double its investment in an Australian real estate private credit vehicle, the fund’s manager said on Tuesday, as traditional lenders grow wary about the sector.
Most Gulf markets track oil prices lower; Egypt jumps
The Qatari benchmark declined 0.2%, on course to fall for a third session, as most of the stocks on the index were in negative territory including petrochemical maker Industries Qatar, which was down 2%.
On the other hand, IT services firm Meeza jumped as much as 17.1% in debut trade from its initial public offering of 2.17 riyals ($0.5954).
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