By: Mahmoud Gamal
Mubasher: Gulf markets are likely to see some negative performance on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates late Wednesday, analysts told Mubasher.
Most GCC markets were down on Wednesday due to profit-taking, with the exception of the UAE's Dubai Financial Market (DFM) which was up on the back of speculation on real estate and some banking stocks, they said.
The increase in interest rates by the Fed is expected to negatively impact GCC bourses as investors focus on selling real estate stocks that will be harmed the most by the Fed's decision, market analyst Ahmed Abdel Geleel commented.
Strong selling will be the predominant feature across GCC markets on Thursday, which saw corrections earlier this week, he said.
Most GCC markets are expected to perform negatively on Thursday, particularly the Saudi market which is seeing strong resistance at 7,100 points, the analyst told Mubasher.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abou Zein, market analyst at Namaa Consulting, noted that most GCC markets will test strong and important resistance levels on Thursday and attempt to remain above these levels.
Markets are also looking to new decisions that will be taken by US President Donald Trump in the coming days, pertaining to taxes, which may boost global and Gulf stock markets, he told Mubasher.
On another note, capital market analyst Doaa Majed told Mubasher that the "quick speculations are dominating" markets at the present time, as traders try to benefit from the instability.
On Wednesday, all GCC bourses were down with the exception of the DFM, up 0.3% to 3,479 points, while the Abu Dhabi market fell 0.3% to 4,375 points, Tadawul lost 0.7% to 6,836 points, Qatar and Kuwait declined 0.2% and 0.1% to 10,292 and 6,979 points, respectively.
Muscat and Bahrain were also down 0.7% and 0.3% to 5,660 and 1,371 points, respectively.
Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi
