Saudi bourse gains amid strong oil prices; Egypt falls | Reuters
Saudi Arabia's stock market finished higher on Sunday, ending two sessions of losses, while the Egyptian bourse extended losses on rising inflation.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) gained 0.6%, helped by a 1.7% rise in Retal Urban Development Co (4322.SE).
The Saudi stock market could extend its gains this week with sentiment among local investors improving. The main index has been able to climb above this year's peak, providing a strong impetus for investors to buy, said Ahmed Negm, Head of Market Research MENA at XS.com.
"At the same time, the local economy could find support in the potential for higher oil prices in the near to medium term."
Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - were little changed on Thursday but posted a third weekly gain as markets weighed further production cuts targeted by OPEC+ and falling U.S. oil inventories against fears about the global economic outlook.
In Qatar, the index (.QSI) dropped 0.9%, with most of the stocks on the index falling into negative territory including petrochemical maker Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA), which was down 1%.
The World Bank has revised its 2023 economic growth projection for the oil exporters of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) downwards to 3.2% in its latest update released on Thursday, from 3.7% forecast in October.
The GCC is expected to post a fiscal surplus of 3.2% of GDP in 2023, down from 4.3% in 2022.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) was down 0.2%.
According to Negm, the Egyptian bourse could record more losses as the country continues to see financial and inflationary pressures.
"At the same time, international investors could maintain their selling trend as the appetite for risk decreases."
Egypt's headline inflation rate is set to hit an all-time high in March, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, following a continued shortage of foreign currency after more than a year of devaluations of the Egyptian pound.
OPEC+ Shock Revives Oil Bulls Even as Demand Warnings Flash Red - Bloomberg
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OPEC+’s surprise oil-production cut sent shock waves through financial markets and pushed crude prices up by the most in a year. Now that the dust has started to settle, one question looms large: Will that price rally stick, or fade away?
Banks from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to RBC Capital Markets LLC raised their oil-price forecasts immediately after the OPEC+ cut. Yet, many traders still believe a souring economic outlook will block the group’s actions from pushing prices higher. Demand indicators are also starting to flash warning signs.
It could end up being the ultimate test of what matters more to the market: tighter supplies, or the lackluster demand picture. That will likely bring more uncertainty over the direction of prices — a complicated development for the Federal Reserve and the world’s central bankers in their ongoing battle against inflation.
“It’s a very hard market to trade right now,” said Livia Gallarati, a senior analyst at Energy Aspects. “If you’re a trader, you are pulled between what’s happening at a macroeconomic level and what’s happening fundamentally. It’s two different directions.”
Should Expats Move to Saudi Arabia? Salaries, Housing, Schooling Issues to Know - Bloomberg
Will Brown, a Dubai-based global-risk executive who has been traveling to Riyadh for work for almost seven years, has started to notice a change on his two-hour flight to the Saudi capital.
Rather than the usual cohort of males who make up the overwhelming demographic of professionals commuting to Saudi Arabia, there are now women and children on board.
“The plane isn’t just middle-aged white dudes flying in on a Sunday, you’re starting to see people move with their families,” said Brown, 49, who usually travels to Riyadh for the kingdom’s Sunday-Thursday working week.
Brown and his family will soon make the move to Riyadh full time, because his employer Control Risks, a global risk consultancy firm, is setting up its regional headquarters there.
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