Mideast Stocks: Major Gulf bourses fall on Fed chair's hawkish tone

The Commercial Bank (P.S.Q.C.)

28/08/2023 14:11

By Md Manzer Hussain
       Aug 28 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Gulf ended
lower on Monday as a slightly hawkish outlook from U.S. Federal
Reserve chair Jerome Powell weighed on investor sentiment.
    Powell on Friday reiterated the central bank would make all
efforts to tackle inflation.
    Monetary policy in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) is usually guided by Fed policy because most regional
currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar.
    In Abu Dhabi, the index  .FTFADGI  fell for a second
consecutive session, ending 0.2% lower, weighed down by a 1.3%
drop in Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank  ADIB.AD  and a 0.7% decline in
the UAE's largest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank  FAB.AD .
    The Qatari index  .QSI  fell 0.5%, snapping its winning
streak from the two previous sessions, with most sectors in the
red. 
    Qatar National Bank  QNBK.QA , the region's largest lender, 
dropped 0.9% and Commercial Bank  COMB.QA  lost 1.3%.
    Saudi Arabia's benchmark index  .TASI  was down 0.1%, also
after rising in the previous two sessions. The index was dragged
down by a 2.2% decline in Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services
 4013.SE  and a 0.7% fall in oil giant Saudi Aramco  2222.SE .
    The world's largest Islamic bank by assets, Al Rajhi Bank
 1120.SE , and Banque Saudi Fransi  1050.SE  slipped 0.3% and
0.9% respectively.
    Dubai's benchmark index  .DFMGI  ended flat with industry
and utilities seeing broad losses but financial and
communication sectors recording some gains.
    Dubai road-toll operator Salik  SALIK.DU  lost 1.2% and
National Central Cooling  TABR.DU  dropped 2.1%.
    The emirate's largest lender Emirates NBD  ENBD.DU  added
1.2%.
    Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index  .EGX30  rose
0.4%, adding to gains in the previous two sessions, with
Commercial International Bank  COMI.CA  and Palm Hills  PHDC.CA 
rising 1.4% and 4.3% respectively. 
 
 SAUDI ARABIA     .TASI  fell 0.1% to 11,464
 KUWAIT           .BKP  lost 0.4% to 7,726
 QATAR            .QSI  fell 0.5% to 10,336
 EGYPT            .EGX30  added 0.4% to 18,585
 BAHRAIN          .BAX  ended flat at 1,953
 OMAN             .MSX30  fell 0.1% to 4,769
 ABU DHABI        .FTFADGI  fell 0.2% to 9,749
 DUBAI            .DFMGI  ended flat at 4,100
 
 (Reporting by Md Manzer Hussain
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((MdManzer.Hussain@thomsonreuters.com;))