Most Gulf bourses in black

DUBAI: Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Sunday with Saudi Arabian shares snapping three sessions of losses, as soft US inflation data fuelled hopes that the aggressive Federal Reserve rate stance might begin to ease.

Most Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have their currencies pegged to the dollar and generally follow the Fed’s policy moves, exposing the region to a direct impact from monetary tightening there.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index pared some gains to close 0.3% higher, ending three sessions of losses, helped by a 3.1% jump in Saudi National Bank (SNB).

SNB, the country’s biggest lender, said on Friday it had not come across any information that might raise concerns over the governance of Credit Suisse and was supportive of the transformation plan announced by the bank on Oct. 27.

Saudi National Bank has agreed to invest 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.59 billion) in the Swiss lender and is set to take a stake of up to 9.9%.

Elsewhere, oil giant Saudi Aramco gained 0.6%.

Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets - settled higher on Friday but fell week-on-week after health authorities in China eased some of the country’s heavy COVID-19 curbs, raising hopes for improved economic activity and demand in the world’s top crude importer.

However, stock exchange operator and owner Saudi Tadawul Group plunged 9.9% to 188.8 riyals, after the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund sold a 10% stake in the firm through a secondary share offering.

PIF sold 12 million shares through an accelerated bookbuild offering at 191 riyals each, a 9% discount to their previous closing price, raising 2.3 billion riyals ($612 million).

In Qatar, the index added 0.4%, led by a 1.2% rise in petrochemical maker Industries Qatar and a 1.4% increase in Qatar Fuel Co.

The Qatari stock market started the week positively as the world cup could provide strong support for the market and attract investors’ attention, said Farah Mourad, Senior Market Analyst of XTB MENA.