Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday endorsed an imminent start to interest rate cuts, saying further cooling in the job market would be unwelcome and expressing confidence that inflation is within reach of the U.S. central bank's 2% target.
Traders increased bets for a bigger rate cut in September following Powell's speech, with the fed funds futures now pricing in a 37% chance of a 50 basis point cut next month, up from about 25% late on Thursday.
Traders increased bets for a bigger rate cut in September following Powell's speech, with the fed funds futures now pricing in a 37% chance of a 50 basis point cut next month, up from about 25% late on Thursday.
Traders are also pricing in about 106 bps of cuts by the end of the year.
Monetary policy in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), including the UAE, is usually guided by the Fed's decisions, as most regional currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab advanced 0.6%, with Saudi Telecom Company (7010.SE), opens new tab jumping 9.9%, after the telecoms company announced a 0.55 riyal per share quarterly dividend for the next three years starting from fourth-quarter.
Elsewhere, oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab gained 0.7%.
Oil prices on Friday jumped more than 2%, rebounding after losses earlier in the week on swelling U.S. crude stocks and a weakening demand outlook in China.
The Qatari benchmark (.QSI), opens new tab eased 0.2%, hit by a 0.7% fall in Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA), opens new tab.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab lost 0.2%, with Commercial International Bank Egypt (COMI.CA), opens new tab down 1.1%.
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