Most of the Gulf stock exchanges declined
Most of the major stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trading today, Tuesday, tracking the decline in Asian stocks and oil prices, with the Abu Dhabi index heading down for the third session.
Brent crude futures, a major catalyst for Gulf financial markets, fell $1.21, or 1.3 percent, to $93.89 a barrel, as bleak economic data from China, the biggest buyer of crude, renewed fears of a global recession.
Yesterday, Monday, the Chinese central bank cut interest rates on lending to revive demand, as data showed that the economy slowed unexpectedly in July, with the activity of factories and retail companies contracting due to Beijing’s policy to make the country free of Covid-19 and a real estate crisis.
The Dubai index fell 0.3 percent, affected by the decline in the share of Emirates NBD, the largest bank in the emirate, by 1.1 percent and the share of Dubai Islamic Bank by 0.3 percent. However, Emaar Properties rose 0.5%.
The Abu Dhabi index fell 0.2 percent, after the share of First Abu Dhabi Bank, the largest bank in the Emirates, lost 0.6 percent.
The Qatari index fell 0.4 percent, led by a decline of one percent for the share of Qatar National Bank, the largest Gulf bank, and 0.7 percent for the share of Qatar Islamic Bank.
The Saudi index rose 0.2 percent, led by the rise in the shares of the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) by 4.7 percent.
But the gains of the Saudi index were limited by the decline in the share of the giant oil company Saudi Aramco 0.7 percent.