GCC markets record biggest monthly drop since Jan 2016 | ZAWYA MENA Edition

GCC markets record biggest monthly drop since Jan 2016 | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

The stock markets in the GCC countries recorded their biggest monthly declines since January 2016 during the last month as the risks of escalating trade war between the US and China and geopolitical tensions related to Iran continue to affect the regional markets.

Aggregate GCC markets, tracked by the S&P GCC TRI, dropped 5.4 per cent during May 2019, its biggest monthly decline since January 2016.

‘The decline came primarily due to regional geopolitical issues, coupled with lower trading activity in most GCC markets due to Ramadan’, Kuwait-based KAMCO Investment said in a report on Sunday.

Barring Kuwait, all the GCC markets declined during May with Saudi Arabia seeing the steepest fall of 8.5 per cent. On the other hand, the 1.8 per cent gains recorded by the Kuwait’s main index pushed the benchmark’s year-to-date returns to the highest in the GCC at 12.8 per cent.