Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf markets gain on rising oil prices, Fed rate pause optimism

Gulf Keystone Petroleum

05/06/2023 09:28

June 5 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Gulf rose
in early trade on Monday on optimism the U.S. Federal Reserve
would pause its rate hikes this month, while rising oil prices
cheered investors.
    Currencies in most Gulf Cooperation Council countries,
including Saudi Arabia, are pegged to the dollar and central
banks generally follow the Fed's policy moves, meaning the
region feels a direct impact from monetary tightening in the
United States.
    Saudi Arabia's benchmark index  .TASI  advanced 1%, buoyed
by a 2.2% rise in oil giant Saudi Aramco  2222.SE .
    Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets
- were up $1 a barrel after top global exporter Saudi Arabia
pledged to cut production by another one million barrels per day
from July, counteracting the macroeconomic headwinds that have
depressed markets.
   Dubai's main share index  .DFMGI  added 0.2%, with Emirates
Central Cooling Systems Corp  EMPOWER.DU  rising 1.7%.
    Meanwhile, new business activity, driven largely by domestic
demand, continued to support non-oil business activity in the
United Arab Emirates in May, a survey showed, although the pace
of growth eased from the previous month.
    In Abu Dhabi, the index  .FTFADGI   bucked the trend to
trade 0.2% lower.
    The Qatari benchmark  .QSI  added 0.1%.
    Analysts have said Saudi Arabia's latest production cuts are
likely to push the price of Brent crude towards $100 a barrel by
the end of the year. 

    
    

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