April 10 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Gulf were
mixed in early trade on Monday after U.S. jobs data pointed to a
tight labour market, firming up expectations that the U.S.
Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its meeting next
month.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index dropped 0.3%, weighed
down by a 0.8% fall in Retal Urban Development Co SJSC and a 0.7% decrease in Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp SJSC .
A historically low U.S. unemployment rate and rising wages
will likely keep the Fed on track to raise rates by a quarter of
a percentage point next month, as risks of a financial crisis
ease while concerns about inflation remain high.
Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar, and
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates usually mirror
any monetary policy change in the United States.
Dubai's main share index eased 0.1%, hit by a 1.1%
decline in top lender Emirates NBD .
In Abu Dhabi, the index added 0.3%, with Emirates
Telecommunications Group rising 0.7%.
The telecom firm has agreed to take a 50.3% stake in a super
app managed by Careem, Uber Technologies Inc's Middle
East subsidiary, in a transaction valued at $400 million, the
company said in a filing on Monday.
Emirates Telecommunications said the transaction fits into
its own ambitions to scale up consumer digital offerings and
would allow the company to take advantage of the app to boost
the growth of its consumer digital services.
The Qatari benchmark edged 0.1% higher, supported by
a 0.4% increase in the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank
QPSC ahead of its quarterly earnings announcement.
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
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