In Qatar, the index dropped 0.9%, with most of the stocks on the index falling into negative territory including petrochemical maker Industries Qatar , which was down 1%. The World Bank has revised its 2023 economic growth projection for the oil exporters of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) downwards to 3.2% in its latest update released on Thursday, from 3.7% forecast in October. The GCC is expected to post a fiscal surplus of 3.2% of GDP in 2023, down from 4.3% in 2022. Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index was down 0.2%. According to Negm, the Egyptian bourse could record more losses as the country continues to see financial and inflationary pressures.
"At the same time, international investors could maintain
their selling trend as the appetite for risk decreases."
Egypt's headline inflation rate is set to hit an all-time
high in March, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, following a
continued shortage of foreign currency after more than a year of
devaluations of the Egyptian pound.
SAUDI ARABIA rose 0.6% to 10,966
QATAR dropped 0.9% to 10,251
EGYPT lost 0.2% to 16,675
BAHRAIN closed flat at 1,886
OMAN up 0.2% to 4,765
KUWAIT declined 1.1% to 7,642
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra)
