Major Gulf markets dip on oil weakness, inflation worries

Most major Gulf stock markets fell on Sunday amid fears of a potential global recession and volatile oil prices, but Egypt continued to rise after its central bank kept its overnight interest rates steady on Thursday.

Crude prices, a key driver of the Gulf’s financial markets, slipped after two days of gains and were heading for weekly losses, also under pressure from a strong dollar.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index (.TASI) fell 0.5 per cent, with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) (2010.SE) falling 2.3 per cent and oil behemoth Aramco dropping 0.8 per cent. Aramco is to start trading ex-dividend on Aug. 22.

Among other stocks, Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corp (2070.SE) plunged 4.8 per cent after reporting a quarterly net loss on the back of rising operating expenses.

However, Saudia Dairy and Foodstuff Company (2270.SE) soared 10 per cent after its second-quarter profit almost doubled to 56.3 million riyals ($14.99 million).

In Qatar the benchmark index (.QSI) fell 0.4 per cent, snapping a three-session winning streak, weighed down by financial stocks as sharia lender Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA) and Commercial Bank (COMB.QA) slid 1.2 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index (.EGX30) rose 2.4 per cent, extending gains for a third session, boosted by its financial stocks after Egypt’s central bank held rates steady after a change of governor on Thursday.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) kept its overnight interest rates steady on Thursday, hours after a new governor was named to replace Tarek Amer, who quit unexpectedly on Wednesday.

The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said it left its lending rate unchanged at 12.25 per cent and its deposit rate at 11.25 per cent.

($1 = 3.7554 riyals)