©Reuters. A screen showing data from the Saudi Stock Exchange in Riyadh – Photo from the Reuters archive.
From Ateeq Sharif
(Reuters) – Most Gulf stock markets closed lower on Monday after a senior Federal Reserve official warned investors not to be hit by excessive single-digit inflation, as a decline heightened fears.
Christopher Waller, a member of the US central bank’s board of governors, said on Sunday that the bank might consider slowing the pace of interest rate hikes at its next meeting, but added that this should not be seen as a sign of “easing” in its fight against inflation.
Most Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including the UAE and Qatar, peg their currencies to the US dollar and generally follow the impact of the Federal Reserve Board with regards to monetary policy decisions, which exposes the region to the direct impact of any monetary tightening in the United States.
The Saudi stock index fell 0.4%, impacted by a 3% drop in shares of the National Bank of Saudi Arabia, the country’s largest bank.
The SNB rose 2.9% in the previous session after saying it had not seen any information that could raise concerns about Credit Suisse’s governance and supported the transformation plan announced by the bank on Oct. 27.
The bank has agreed to invest 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.59 billion) in the Swiss bank and is expected to acquire up to a 9.9% stake.
Since the announcement, which was made in October, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahly has lost 39.94 billion riyals ($10.63 billion) of its market value.
On the other hand, the share of Tadawul Group, owner and operator of the Saudi stock exchange, fell more than six percent, continuing the losses of the previous session.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund sold a 10% stake in Tadawul through a secondary stock offering, during which it raised 2.3 billion riyals ($612 million). The bank sold 12 million shares during the accelerated book-building process at a price of 191 riyals per share, a nine percent discount from Thursday’s closing price.
The Dubai Stock Exchange index fell 0.4%, with Emaar (DFM:) leading the stock lower before announcing its third quarter results.
Wael Makram, senior analyst for market strategies in the Middle East and North Africa at Exness, said he has seen some fluctuations after surging for two weeks and that the market has also interacted with mixed results from some companies.
In Abu Dhabi, the index fell by 0.1%.
The Qatar index finished down 0.2%, with most stocks down, including Industries Qatar Petrochemical Company.
Outside the Gulf region, the blue-chip index rose 1.3%, with Commercial International Bank’s (EGX:) share rising 2.3%.
In Saudi Arabia, the index fell 0.4% to 11,197 points.
In Abu Dhabi, the index fell by 0.1% to 10,620 points.
In Dubai, the index fell 0.4% to 3,394 points.
In Qatar, the index fell by 0.2% to 12,586 points.
In Egypt, the index rose 1.3% to 12,136 points.
In Bahrain, the index fell 0.1% to 1,865 points.
In the Sultanate of Oman, the index fell 0.3% to 4,461 points.
In Kuwait, the index increased by 0.2% to 8,578 points.
( = 0.9459 Swiss francs)
($1 = 3.7582 Saudi Riyals)
(Prepared by Mahmoud Abdel-Gawad for the Arab Bulletin – Edited by Ali Khafaji)