Saudi Arabia’s stock market ended lower on Monday amid falling oil prices, while the Egyptian index snapped six sessions of gains.
Crude prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets - slipped to trade near two-month lows as supply fears receded while concerns over fuel demand from China and U.S. dollar strength weighed on prices.
New COVID case numbers in China remained close to April peaks as the country battles outbreaks nationwide and in major cities.
The benchmark index dropped 1.1%, extending losses for a second session, with Retal Urban Development Co losing 1.3% and oil giant Saudi Aramco declining 1.6%.
The Saudi energy index was down 1.6%.
Dubai’s main share index fell 0.4%, hit by a 0.8% fall in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties.
Gulf bourses slide on Fed rate hike prospects; Egypt edges up
The Dubai bourse returned to the red and could see more price corrections if traders maintain their selling trend, said Fadi Reyad, chief market analyst at CAPEX.com MENA.
“The main index has been trading sideways, with strong volatility for almost two months adding to the uncertainty.”
In Abu Dhabi, the index finished 0.6% lower.
The Qatari index slid 2.1%, as most of the stocks on the index were in negative territory including the Gulf’s biggest lender Qatar National Bank, which was down 2.1%.
According to Reyad, the Qatari stock market extended more losses this week as the direction of natural gas prices remained uncertain.
“However, the launch of the World Cup could serve as an opportunity to attract investments and help the market stabilize.”
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index lost 0.6%, ending six sessions of gains, on profit-booking.
======================================= SAUDI ARABIA slid 1.1% to 10,931 ABU DHABI fell 0.6% to 10,399 DUBAI down 0.4% to 3,339 QATAR gained 0.7% to 10,118 EGYPT lost 0.6% to 12,450 BAHRAIN added 0.1% to 1,863 OMAN rose 0.4% to 4,501 KUWAIT dropped 0.2% to 8,487=======================================