Mideast Stocks: Gulf bourses mixed ahead of US economic data amid Mideast woes

Eastern

24/10/2023 14:42

By Ateeq Shariff
       Oct 24 (Reuters) - Stock markets in the Gulf ended mixed
on Tuesday ahead of U.S. economic data expected to offer clues
to the next steps by the Federal Reserve, while widening
conflict in the region weighed on sentiments.
    The U.S. Commerce Department will announce third-quarter
gross domestic product on Thursday, while the Personal
Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report, the U.S. central bank's
preferred inflation gauge, is due on Friday.
    Monetary policy in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council
is usually guided by Fed policy decisions because most regional
currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar.
    Saudi Arabia's benchmark index  .TASI  gained 0.8%, snapping
four sessions of losses, led by a 2.7% rise in Lumi Rental Co
 4262.SE  and a 4.4% jump in Alinma Bank  1150.SE .
    Post trading hours, the lender reported a quarterly net
profit of 1.32 billion riyals ($351.89 million), up from 989
million riyals year ago.
    Separately, the kingdom's Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb
said on Tuesday the kingdom could record almost 100 million
tourist visits this year, with tourism contributing around 6% of
gross domestic product.
    Dubai's main share index  .DFMGI  added 0.3%, helped by a
1.8% rise in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties  EMAR.DU .
    Oil - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets -
recovered some of the previous day's losses as markets worried
that the Israel-Hamas war could escalate into a wider conflict
in the crude-exporting region.
    The Qatari benchmark  .QSI  declined 2.3%, hitting its
lowest in over three years, as almost all its constituents were
in negative territory including Qatar Islamic Bank  QISB.QA ,
which was down 3.9%.
    Among other losers, petrochemical firm Mesaieed
Petrochemical Holding Co  MPHC.QA  tumbled 5.8%, following a
steep fall in nine-month net profit.
    Israel said on Tuesday it had killed dozens of Hamas
fighters overnight in strikes on Gaza but that its war to
destroy them, which involves bombarding and blockading the
Palestinian enclave, would take time.
    Gaza's health ministry said at least 5,791 Palestinians have
been killed in the strikes on the Hamas-ruled enclave since Oct.
7, including 2,360 children. A total of 704 were killed in the
previous 24 hours alone, it said.
    Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index  .EGX30  dropped
0.8%, with tobacco monopoly Eastern Co  EAST.CA  retreating 11%.
        
 SAUDI ARABIA   .TASI  rose 0.8% to 10,380
 ABU DHABI      .FTFADGI  was flat at 9,273
 DUBAI          .DFMGI  added 0.3% to 3,742
 QATAR          .QSI  dropped 2.3% to 9,499
 EGYPT          .EGX30  lost 0.8% to 22,377
 BAHRAIN        .BAX  was up 0.1% to 1,940
 OMAN           .MSX30  lost 0.4% to 4,625
 KUWAIT         .BKP  declined 1.1% to 7,214
 

($1 = 3.7512 riyals)

 (Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi
Majumdar)
 ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))