Most Gulf stock markets ended Thursday lower as oil prices fell after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell highlighted credit risks in the banking sector of the world’s largest economy.
Crude oil prices, the main catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets, fell 0.6% on Thursday, with Brent reaching $76.21 a barrel by 1145 GMT.
The Dubai index fell 0.9 percent after rising for two sessions, driven by losses in the industrial and financial sectors. Shares of Emaar Properties fell 2.1%, while shares of the emirate’s largest bank, Emirates NBD, fell 0.4%.
In Abu Dhabi, the index fell 0.6 percent after rising in the previous session, driven by a 1.7 percent decline in property developer Aldar Real Estate and a 2 percent decline in Alpha Abu Dhabi Holding.
In Saudi Arabia, the main stock index closed up 0.9 percent, extending the previous session’s gains, and the index rose on gains in almost all sectors, including Al-Rajhi Bank, the world’s largest Islamic bank. by 1.2 percent, and oil giant Saudi Aramco by 1.4 percent.
The Qatari index also rose 0.3 percent, continuing its uninterrupted gains for three sessions, as the financial and industrial sectors recorded gains and the energy sector was in the red.
Outside the Gulf region, the Egyptian Stock Exchange index rose 2.4 percent after falling in the previous session, with all sectors remaining in the green.
