DUBAI: Stock markets in United Arab Emirates declined on Friday, tracking oil prices after a US Federal Reserve governor said interest rate cuts should be delayed by at least two more months.
US Federal Reserve policymakers should delay interest rate cuts by at least another couple more months to see if a recent uptick in inflation signals stalling progress toward price stability or is just a bump in the road, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday.
Oil prices - a key component of Gulf economies - drifted 1.21% lower to $82.66 a barrel by 1042 GMT.
Most Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including the United Arab Emirates, peg their currencies to the US dollar and follow the Fed’s policy moves closely.
Abu Dhabi’s benchmark index slipped 0.4%, hitting a nearly four-month low, weighed down by a 5.5% slump in IHC-owned investment firm Multiply Group, while sovereign wealth fund ADQ-owned real estate firm Q holding lost 4%.
Geopolitical tensions and risks surrounding oil markets could continue to weigh on sentiments in Abu Dhabi market, Abdelhadi Laabi, Chief Marketing Officer at KAMA Capital, said.
Dubai’s main market edged down 0.1% as majority of stocks were trading in red territory with top lender Emirates NBD Bank losing 1.9% and state-run Dubai Electricity and Water Authority decreasing 0.8%.
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