Feb 1 (Reuters) - Most Gulf bourses rose in early trade
on Wednesday, tracking crude oil prices and global equities as a
slowdown in U.S. labour costs lifted expectations that the
Federal Reserve might hint later in the day at ending interest
rate hikes.
The U.S. employment cost index rose 1.0%, less than
expected, in the fourth quarter. That was the smallest advance
since the fourth quarter of 2021 and followed a 1.2% gain in the
July-September period. Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar, while
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar usually mirror
U.S. monetary policy changes.
Crude oil, a key contributor to Gulf economies, drifted
higher on Wednesday, with Brent crude rising $0.34, or 0.40%, to
$85.82 a barrel by 0820 GMT. Banking and petrochemical stocks helped the Qatari Stock
index to rise 0.8% and snap two sessions of losses.
Petrochemical maker Industries Qatar gained 1.6%,
while Gulf's largest bank, Qatar National Bank , added
0.8%.
Abu Dhabi's benchmark index rose 0.6%, extending
gains to a third straight session, with the UAE's largest
lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank , rising 2.2%.
The UAE's third-largest lender, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank , surged 4.6% on its best day since late November,
after achieving 23% growth in both annual and fourth-quarter
each net profit.
The lender also raised its annual dividend by 48.6% to AED
0.55 per share.
Mashreq Bank jumped 15%, its biggest intraday gain since
late September, after the lender proposed AED 9 per share as its
annual cash dividend, up 800% from last year.
Dubai's benchmark index edged 0.7% higher,
supported by a 2.4% gain in toll operator Salik Company , while blue-chip developer Emaar Properties rose 1.4%
Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index , however,
slipped 0.2%, pressured by a 0.5% drop in oil behemoth Saudi
Aramco , while Riyad Bank decreased 0.7%.
Among other losers, Saudi Industrial Investment Group tumbled 4.1% after the firm posted a fourth-quarter
loss driven by lower selling prices and scheduled maintenance
for Saudi Polymer Company.
Separately, the International Monetary Fund has revised its
2023 growth forecast for Saudi Arabia to 2.6%, 1.1 percentage
points below its October projection.
(Reporting by Mohd Edrees in Bengaluru; Editing by Bradley
Perrett)
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