The US Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday as part of its effort to rein in runaway inflation, and the European Central Bank is also expected to raise interest rates at its regular meeting on Thursday. .
Most of the GCC states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, are pegging their currencies to the dollar and closely following the Federal Reserve’s policy actions, exposing the region to a direct impact from monetary tightening in the largest economy in the world.
Oil, a major catalyst for the Gulf financial markets, continued its losses after falling 5% in the previous session, to see Brent crude fall $1.75 to $73.58 a barrel at 09:49 GMT , and Nymex crude falling below $70 for the first time since last March. .
In light of economic data, the International Monetary Fund forecasts in its latest report that real GDP growth in oil-exporting countries in the Middle East and North Africa region will slow from 5.7% in 2022 to 3.1% in 2023, at this rate. generally continuing into 2024, due to agreed production cuts.
On the other hand, Wednesday’s survey showed that the acceleration in the growth of new orders led to an increase in non-oil business activity in the United Arab Emirates in April, and non-oil business activity in Saudi Arabia. experienced a sharp increase during the same month. .
A Reuters poll of 16 economists predicted the Saudi economy would grow 3.2% this year, less than half the 8.7% growth rate recorded in 2022, which was the highest in a decade. in 2023 and 4% next year, much less than 7.6% the year before.
indicator performance
Most major indices trended lower at 09:49 GMT, following the impact of oil markets:
- The Saudi market index fell 1.47% to 11,054 points – The Abu Dhabi financial market index fell 0.18% to 9,651 points – The Kuwait first market index fell fell by 0.80% to 7,722 points.
On the other hand:
- Dubai Financial Market Index rose 0.03% to 3,576 points – Muscat Stock Exchange Index rose 0.16% to 4,733 points – Qatar Stock Exchange Index rose increased by 1.50% to 10,486 points.
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