Egyptian stocks closed at a record high on Sunday to lead Middle Eastern bourses, extending a rally set off by a new deal with the International Monetary Fund.
Egypt - the most populous Arab country - secured an expanded $8 billion deal on Wednesday with the IMF hours after the central bank hiked rates by 600 basis points and unshackled its currency, letting it slide, in a push to stabilise the economy.
The country’s benchmark index finished 5.2% higher at 32,920 points, with most of its constituents rising, including top lender Commercial International Bank, which was up 6.8%.
UAE bourses gain on rate cut bets
In late February, Egypt signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to develop a prime stretch of its Mediterranean coast that would bring $35 billion of investments to the indebted country.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday that with tens of billions of dollars in new financing from the UAE and the IMF, moving to a flexible exchange rate would be possible. Saudi Arabia’s main index added 0.3%, helped by a 1.4% rise in Saudi Aramco after the oil giant hiked its dividend despite drop in profit.
Aramco declared a base dividend, paid regardless of results, of $20.3 billion for the fourth quarter. It expects to pay out $43.1 billion in performance-linked dividends this year, including $10.8 billion in the first quarter.
The base dividend was increased 4% year-on-year, and the performance-linked dividend was about 9% higher. The Qatari index was up 0.1%.
SAUDI ARABIA rose 0.3% to 12,619
QATAR added 0.5% to 10,235
EGYPT up 5.2% to 32,920
BAHRAIN was up 0.2% to 2,016
OMAN lost 0.4% to 4,760
KUWAIT gained 0.4% to 8,141
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