By Ateeq Shariff
April 5 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Gulf ended
lower on Wednesday in line with global shares as signs that the
economic outlook is weakening spurred caution.
MSCI's world equity index pulled further
away from Tuesday's almost seven-week highs, while Asia trade
was thinned by holidays in Hong Kong and China.
Weak U.S. economic data this week has exacerbated recession
worries, taking the edge off recent stock market gains.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index dropped 0.3%, hit by
a 5.2% fall in Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services ,
while Arabian Centres Co retreated 4.3% as the mall
operator went ex-dividend.
In the previous two sessions, the Saudi index posted sharp
gains after a surprise announcement by OPEC+ to further cut oil
production.
The surprise cuts to the OPEC+ group's output targets could
push oil prices towards $100 a barrel, setting the scene for
another clash with the West, which is grappling with higher
interest rates to tame inflation, analysts and traders said on
Monday.
The Saudi market is at some risk of price corrections after
its recent strong increases as traders move to secure their
gains, said Daniel Takieddine, CEO MENA at BDSwiss.
"At the same time, the market continues to see strong
fundamentals as shown by the improved credit rating, which could
help push sentiment and prices up," he said, referring to an
upgrade on Wednesday of Saudi Arabia's credit rating from
ratings agency Fitch to A+ from A.
Dubai's main share index declined 0.7%, weighed
down by a 0.8% decrease in Dubai Electricity and Water .
In Abu Dhabi, the index eased 0.1%.
The Qatari index lost 0.4%, ending two sessions of
gains.
According to Takieddine, the Qatari bourse remained under
pressure as natural gas prices failed to recover from
multi-month lows.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index rose
0.1%.
Egypt's net foreign reserves rose slightly to $34.447
billion in March from $34.352 billion in February, the central
bank said on Wednesday.
SAUDI ARABIA lost 0.3% to 10,921
ABU DHABI fell 0.1% to 9,495
DUBAI down 0.7% to 3,430
QATAR dropped 0.4% to 10,359
EGYPT rose 0.1% to 17,019
BAHRAIN eased 0.1% to 1,887
OMAN gained 0.3% to 4,801
KUWAIT added 0.1% to 7,757
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru)
