Gulf stock exchanges fall ahead of the Fed meeting (Getty)
Still afraid of decisions Federal Bank It is expected to be released this week stock markets in Most countries of the worldMost of the stock exchanges turned red, awaiting the results of the bank’s meeting, on Wednesday, and the subsequent press statements.
While everyone is aware that the disease that occurs at the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington shows its symptoms in most parts of the world, most of the markets in the Arab Gulf, where most of the countries link their currencies to the US currency, have declined, which definitely forces them to raise interest rates on their currency with every tightening of the Federal Reserve.
While waiting to raise the interest rate on the bank’s funds by no less than 0.75%, bringing the total that was raised since the beginning of the year to 3%, in the most stringent monetary policy of the largest central bank in the world since the eighties of the last century, there were negative effects on the markets Gulf stocks, since the beginning of the year, until Monday’s trading.
On Monday, the Saudi stock index declined by 1.1%, extending its losses for the second consecutive session, under pressure from a 1.3% drop in Al-Rajhi Bank and 2.5% in the National Bank of Saudi Arabia, two of the largest banks in the Kingdom.
The Abu Dhabi market index fell by 1.15%, amid trading of 2.65 billion dirhams, while the Dubai Financial Market index fell by 0.43%, amid trading of 277.04 million dirhams, bringing the losses of UAE shares during Monday to more than 9 billion dirhams.
In Qatar, the general stock index declined by 1.67%, affected by a collective decline of sectors, led by banks and financial services, which fell by 2%, while the telecommunications sector was the best performer, despite its decline by 0.13%.
The Bahrain Stock Exchange ended Monday’s trading session with a decline for the second consecutive session, under pressure from the financial sector, most affected by the interest rate hike. The general index declined by 0.08%, after transactions worth more than 546 thousand dinars.
In Kuwait, the main indices of the stock market fell at the close of trading on Monday, after the decline of 12 sectors, led by the energy sector. The primary market index decreased by 0.74%, and the general index decreased by 0.81%, after transactions that amounted to 38.45 million dinars.