Major Gulf bourses eke up gains on higher oil prices as Suez Canal jam continues



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Major Gulf bourses eke up gains on higher oil prices as Suez Canal jam continues
Major Gulf bourses eke up gains on higher oil prices as Suez Canal jam continues

On Sunday, a basket of major Gulf bourses had rounded off the session modestly higher as market participants seemingly downplayed concerns related to Suez Canal jam while pricing in heavily on a solid economic recovery in a near-term.

In factuality, in the day’s decent gains in the Gulf bourses were mostly catapulted by a sharp rise in crude oil futures’ prices on Friday, while both US WTI (West Texas Intermediate) and UK crude futures’ prices soared more than 4 per cent at the end of a volatile week.

If truth is to be told, oil prices, a fundamental catalyst for Gulf stocks given their upscaled dependence on energy that largely pivots the regions’ gross outputs, gained ground on Friday after a salvage company engaged in dislodging the 400-metre container ship blocking the Suez Canal, was quoted saying that the global supplies of crude and refined oil could be disrupted for weeks, while two sources familiar with the issue added that the efforts to put the ‘Ever Given’ back into water had been compounded further over the weekend as the ship’s bow was trapped by underwater rocks, eventually adding a bullish wind to Gulf bourses.

Gulf stocks gain as Suez Canal blockage continues to weigh on oil prices

Citing statistics, in the day’s Gulf bourses’ closure, Saudi’s benchmark index propelled 0.7 per cent higher with petrochemical maker Saudi Basic Industries soaring 1.9 per cent.

Besides, rating agency S&P Global had kept Saudi’s sovereign credit rating unchanged at ‘A-/A-2’ last week, forecasting that the nation’s economy would return to growth this year. Apart from that, Dubai's main index ended 0.2 per cent higher with the UAE's largest lender Emirates NBD gaining 0.9 per cent, while Abu Dhabi's main index climbed 0.5 per cent.

However, outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index treaded water. Elsewhere in the Gulf, Qatari bourse advanced 0.2 per cent with shares' prices of petrochemical maker Industries Qatar surging as much as 1.4 per cent.