Egypt
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%, with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) (2010.SE) falling 2.3% and oil behemoth Aramco dropping 0.8%. 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% after reporting a quarterly net loss on the back of rising operating expenses.
However, Saudia Dairy and Foodstuff Company (2270.SE) soared 10% after its second-quarter profit almost doubled to 56.3 million riyals ($14.99 million).
In Qatar the benchmark index (.QSI) fell 0.4%, 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% and 2.3% respectively.
