Most of the Gulf stock markets closed higher on Thursday, after catching a breath after the recent sell-off, while investors digested the US Federal Reserve’s tough policy to contain inflation.
Showed the proceedings of the meeting fed For June, officials agreed on a significant rate hike justifying a 0.75 percentage point increase as near-term inflation expectations deteriorated since the Bank’s May meeting.
The main index of the Dubai Stock Exchange rose 1.5%, supported by a 5.1% increase in Emaar Properties and 1.5% in Dubai Islamic Bank.
The Salik Traffic Toll Company in Dubai said that it had appointed Ibrahim Al-Haddad as its CEO, in a move that marks the company’s approach to its planned offering on the stock exchange.
In November, the Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, announced plans to float Salik’s shares on the stock exchange, and the company was at that time affiliated with the Roads and Transport Authority. The listing of Salik and nine other government-related companies aims to boost the stock market’s activity.
The Qatari index also closed 0.2% higher, with the Commercial Bank of Qatar rising 2.3%, but Qatar National Bank’s share fell 1.5%, despite recording a 12.3% increase in second-quarter profits.
In Abu Dhabi, the stock index fell 0.3%, affected by the decline in the shares of First Abu Dhabi Bank, the largest bank in the Emirates.
The leading stock index in the Egyptian Stock Exchange rose 1%, supported by the rise of the Commercial International Bank’s share by 2.3%. The index has fallen more than 25% since the beginning of the year, and lost 3.6% on Monday to 8,642 points, its lowest level since November 2016, according to “Archyde.com”.
Today, Thursday, the Saudi stock market began the blessed Eid Al-Adha holiday, which will continue until next Wednesday.
The Saudi market index “TASI” closed up 0.6% yesterday, Wednesday, to the level of 11,416 points, ending losses over 4 sessions, with Al-Rajhi Bank’s share rising by 2% and Riyad Bank’s share by 2.8%.