Gulf Stocks

  Reuters Most major Middle Eastern stock markets fell on Thursday after the US central bank raised interest rates but buying by local retail investors lifted Saudi Arabia. The central banks of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar followed the Fed with their own 0.25 percentage point rate hikes and Oman, which has been raising its ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Stock markets in the Gulf retreated on Wednesday in shrinking trading volumes as investors turned cautious ahead of the US interest rate hike and guidance from the US central bank expected late in the day. Petrochemical shares, which have been dragging Saudi Arabia’s main index lower over the last two sessions, fell further. The main index ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Stock markets in the Gulf pulled back on Tuesday as investors turned their attention to an expected US interest rate hike on Wednesday and the upcoming Saudi Arabian state budget for 2017. In Riyadh, the index declined for a second straight session, falling 0.8 percent. Trading volume shrank by roughly half from Monday’s very large amount. ...

  Reuters Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar jumped on Monday as crude oil prices shot to their highest since mid-2015, but the uptrend in Saudi Arabia lost steam as investors anticipated the state budget. Brent crude soared as high as $57.89 per barrel on Monday morning in response to the weekend deal between OPEC and non-OPEC ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Stock markets in Saudi Arabia and Qatar posted broad-based gains on Sunday after OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers a day earlier reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly in a drive to prop up prices. It is not clear whether oil prices can rise much further in response to the deal, and ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates rose strongly for a second straight day on Thursday while blue chips in Saudi Arabia and Egypt fell as investors kept booking profits. Dubai”s index added 1.8 percent with trading volume jumping 75 percent from the previous day as mid- and large- sized shares attract foreign funds. Emaar Properties ...

  Reuters Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates outperformed the region on Wednesday while investors booked profits in Saudi Arabian petrochemical shares and Egyptian blue chips. Dubai’s main index closed 1.3 percent higher in healthy volume as some large and mid-sized shares, which had been relatively quiet so far this week, gained. Emaar Properties rose 2.4 percent. A Dubai-based ...

  Reuters The petrochemical sector helped carry Saudi Arabia’s stock market to a fresh one-year closing high on Tuesday after crude oil prices hit a 17-month peak, while Egypt’s market followed global shares upwards. The main Saudi index added 0.7 percent to 7,155 points in extremely heavy turnover with gainers outnumbering losers 139 to 18. The index is now up ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Most stock markets in the Gulf rose on Sunday as investors cheered a rally in crude oil prices, while foreign buyers continued to support Egypt’s index. Brent crude futures ended their best week in at least five years on Friday, settling at $54.46 a barrel following OPEC’s agreement to cut output to prop up prices. Saudi ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Petrochemicals companies led Gulf stock markets higher on Thursday in response to OPEC’s first agreement on output cuts to prop up oil prices since 2008 — a deal that could allow governments to ease austerity policies slightly. Expectations for the deal had already boosted oil and Gulf bourses on Wednesday, but the agreement included bigger production ...