As concerns over the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates continued to dampen investor mood, the majority of stock markets in the Gulf were lower in early trade on Wednesday.
Gulf shares drop in trade: Last week, the Fed maintained its policy rate in a range of 5.25%-5.50%, although the majority of decision-makers said they expected one more interest rate increase by the end of the year to be reasonable.
Due to the majority of regional currencies being tied to the US dollar, the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’s monetary policy is typically influenced by Fed policy choices.
Early trading saw a 0.5% decline in Dubai’s benchmark stock index, with Emaar Properties and Emirates Central Cooling Systems both falling 1.1%.
Emirates NBD, the biggest lender in the emirate, fell 0.6%.
The benchmark stock index in Abu Dhabi dropped 0.2% as a result of losses of 0.2% at international holding company and 1.5% at aldar properties.
First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the two biggest lenders in the UAE, both saw losses of 0.4% and 0.8%.
The benchmark in Qatar fell 0.2%, with Ooredoo QPSC down 1% and Qatar Navigation falling 2.6%.
Qatar Islamic Bank and Commercial Bank fell 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively, and were among the losers.
The benchmark stock index for Saudi Arabia increased by the 0.3% thanks to advances across most industries, including Sahara International Petrochemical Co’s 2.5% increase and Al Rajhi Bank’s 0.6% increase.