Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Sunday after highly anticipated jobs data boosted investors expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

US employment increased solidly in June, but government and healthcare services hiring made up about three-quarters of the payrolls gain and the unemployment rate hit a 2-1/2-year high of 4.1%, pointing to a slackening labor market that keeps the Federal Reserve on course to start cutting interest rates soon.

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.

UAE bourses edge higher on US rate cut bets

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index gained 0.3%, helped by a 1.4% rise in ACWA Power Co and a 0.9% increase in the country’s biggest lender Saudi National Bank.

Among other gainers, dairy firm Almarai advanced 1.4% after reporting an increase in quarterly net profit.

The Qatari benchmark added 0.5%, with Dukhan Bank closing 0.5% higher.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index finished 0.8% higher, with EFG Holding advanced 8.1%.

Meanwhile, Hamas is waiting for a response from Israel on its ceasefire proposal, two officials from the group said on Sunday, five days after it accepted a key part of a US plan aimed at ending the nine-month-old war in Gaza.

SAUDI ARABIA rose 0.3% to 11,689

QATAR added 0.5% to 10,123

EGYPT up 0.8% to 28,602

BAHRAIN eased 0.2% to 2,003

OMAN rose 0.8% to 4,689

KUWAIT gained 0.4% to 7,602