Saudi Arabia’s stock market rebounded on Sunday, after a sharp decline in the previous session, while the Qatari index extended losses.
Most Gulf stock markets lost ground last week reflecting investors’ anxiety about fast-rising inflation that will drive a sharp rise in interest rates and put global economy growth at risk.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index gained 2.5%, with Al Rajhi Bank advancing 3.6%, while oil group Saudi Aramco finished 4.2% higher after reporting an almost 82% surge in first-quarter net profit.
Aramco, which is on a par with Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company, reported net income of $39.5 billion for the quarter to March 31 from $21.7 billion a year earlier.
Saudi Aramco net profit soars 82% in Q1 on high oil prices
Oil prices, a key catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets, rose about 4% on Friday as US gasoline prices jumped to a record high, China looked ready to ease pandemic restrictions and investors worried supplies will tighten if the European Union bans Russian oil.
In Qatar, the index dropped more than 2% as most of the stocks on the index were in negative territory, including Masraf Al Rayan.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index fell 1.4%, with Commercial International Bank losing 1.4%.
The Egyptian market remains exposed to the changing sentiment (in global financial markets) and could continue seeing a volatile performance, said Fadi Reyad, market analyst at CAPEX.com.
“The change in expectations comes on top of the impact the country is witnessing from the conflict in Ukraine.”
SAUDI ARABIA rose 2.5% to 13,149
QATAR dropped 2% to 12,877
EGYPT lost 1.4% to 10,534
BAHRAIN added 0.6% to 1,971
OMAN was flat at 4,144
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