By: Mahmoud Gamal
Mubasher: Gulf stocks markers are expected to continue their sideways-to-bearish performance in line with the fall of oil prices, capital market analyst Nawaf Al Ajmi told Mubasher.
Most GCC bourses are expected to be negatively affected by investors’ anxiety about the worsening diplomatic rift between Qatar and its neighbours as some Qatari companies’ activities are halted in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the analyst added.
Gulf investors in Qatar’s bourse are tending to sell the stocks of companies which have foreign business in the Gulf neighbours, Al Ajmi noted.
Some foreign investors started to be cautious in their trades as some Saudi, Emirati, and Bahraini banks started to cut their relations with their peers in Qatar, which will negatively affect the banking sectors in these countries, capital market analyst Abdullah Al Ali told Mubasher.
Petrochem stocks were also weighed down by the decline of oil prices amid fears that Qatar’s diplomatic situation may disrupt the oil-cut agreement recently signed by members and non-members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Al Ali added.
The markets’ performance will be affected by Kuwait’s attempt on Tuesday to mediate a resumption of diplomatic and commercial ties between Qatar and several of its Arab neighbours, capital market analyst Mohamed Al Azmi told Mubasher.
Translated by: Julian Nabil
