March 22 (Reuters) - Most Gulf stock markets ended
higher on Wednesday as fears of a banking crisis receded and
hopes of a more modest interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal
Reserve lifted investor sentiment.
The markets now await the Fed's monetary policy decision,
due later in the day, with most analysts expecting the Fed to
raise the rate by 25 bps to tame inflation, but Goldman Sachs
said a pause would be "warranted".
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.
The Qatari Stock index rose 1%, extending its
previous session gains with all sectors in the positive
territory, led by industry and finance.
The index heavyweight Islamic banks Qatar Islamic Bank and Qatar International Islamic Bank added
0.7% and 1.5% respectively, while conglomerate Industries Qatar climbed 5.2%.
In Abu Dhabi, the index rose 0.6%, snapping two
sessions decline, supported by a 5.4% jump in ADNOC Gas and a 2.8% rise in Alpha Dhabi
Holding .
The United Arab Emirates' biggest lender, First Abu Dhabi
Bank and third-largest bank Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank climbed 1.6% and 2.5% respectively.
Dubai's benchmark index extended its previous
sessions rally and ended 0.4% higher. The index was lifted by
gains in most sectors with Emaar Properties rising
1.6% and cooling solutions provider Emirates Central Cooling adding 2.5%.
The emirate's largest bank Emirates NBD gained
0.8%.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index dropped 0.1%, ending
three sessions gains. The index dragged down by losses in
materials, health and finance sectors with Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib
Medical shedding 1.9% and Saudi Basic Industries losing 1.2%.
Al Rajhi Bank , the world's largest Islamic bank
by assets, slid 2%, the steepest intraday fall in a month as it
was trading ex-dividend.
Shares of Mouwasat Medical Services shot up 10%,
the highest intraday rise since March 2020.
The healthcare service provider reported on Wednesday a rise
in full-year net profit, beating analysts' expectations.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index fell
0.5%, snapping two sessions gains with almost all sectors in the
red with Fawry Banking dropping 2.8% and Telecom Egypt losing 4.2%%.
Meanwhile, Egypt has decided to suspend the sale of a stake
in state-controlled telecoms services provider because of market
conditions.
SAUDI ARABIA fell 0.1% to 10,351
KUWAIT added 0.1% to 7,836
QATAR rose 1% at 9,980
EGYPT lost 0.5% to 15,253
BAHRAIN added 0.1% to 1,902
OMAN lost 0.8% to 4,896
ABU DHABI rose 0.6% to 9,604
DUBAI added 0.4% at 3,393
(Reporting by Md Manzer Hussain; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
