Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Gulf Markets Rise on China Demand Optimism


Tue 24 Jan 2023 | 11:45 PM
By Ahmad El-Assasy

On Tuesday, Gulf stock markets ended higher due to predictions of a revival in China's economy and lower interest rate increases from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

According to the majority of economists in a Reuters poll, the Fed will stop its tightening cycle after a 25-basis-point increase at each of its upcoming two policy meetings and will then probably maintain interest rates stable for at least the remainder of the year.

The majority of Gulf countries' currencies are tied to the US dollar, and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar often follow changes in US monetary policy.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China's easing of COVID-19 limitations should result in a record-high level of world demand this year. OPEC anticipated a rise in Chinese demand as well.

The benchmark index in Saudi Arabia increased by 0.3%, helped by advances in companies from the energy, finance, and commodities sectors. The oil giant Saudi Aramco kept up its gains from Monday by increasing by 0.6%. Al Rajhi Bank, the biggest Islamic bank in the world by market value, increased by 0.8%.

With gains from the nation's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank and property giant Aldar Properties, the index in Abu Dhabi increased 0.6%, snapping a four-session losing trend.

The first phase of "The Sustainable City - Yas Island," according to the developer, was completely sold out in less than 24 hours, producing over 1 billion dirhams in revenue.