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On Sunday, a basket of Gulf bourses had wrapped up the session in an ambivalent tenure with Saudi’s benchmark index chartering at a spitting distance to its 15-year peak, as a sharp increase in global crude oil prices coupled with geopolitical hobbles threatening further drag in OPEC+ output, had added to a bullish breeze. On Friday, both US and UK Crude Oil had spiked to their highest level in more than seven years, eventually adding impetus to Gulf traders’ morale which usually is largely linked to global oil prices. Aside from a squeezed supply chain, crude oil prices drew further support from an increase in hostilities in the Gulf alongside rising tension over Ukraine issue. Besides, a hawkish Federal Reserve that signalled more than three rate hikes this year on its Jan 25-26 policy meet, added to strains on growth stocks, but helped financials eke out modest gains.
Major Gulf bourses end mixed
Citing statistics, in the day’s Gulf market wind-down, Saudi’s benchmark index added 0.7 per cent with petrochemical industry giant SABIC adding as much as 1.5 per cent.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s most profitable entity on an unaudited basis, closes the session 0.7 per cent higher with the Saudi Energy Index up by 0.6 per cent. Nonetheless, outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index shed 0.4 per cent, spanning its losses for a fourth straight session in a row, as a 3.2 per cent drag in Talaat Mostafa Holding led the tally of declines.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Qatari bourse eased 0.1 per cent with Islamic Sharia-based lender Masraf Al Rayan losing 1.8 per cent after reporting annual losses in 2021 and Bahrain closes out the session almost flatlined, while Oman shrugged off 0.5 per cent and Kuwait rises 0.1 per cent.