By: Mahmoud Gamal
Mubasher: The Gulf stock markets are expected to maintain their sideways-to-bullish performance on Wednesday, in line with the gains global markets achieved in February.
Traders have focused again on small- and mid-cap stocks, and some blue chips, supporting the rise of some GCC exchanges on Tuesday, capital market analyst Nawaf Al Ajmi told Mubasher.
The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) rose for the second successive day in Tuesday’s session, amid an improvement in the sentiment of investors who made good transactions in the insurance and telecom sectors, Al Ajmi explained.
Advanced Petrochemical, Buruj Cooperative Insurance, Al Sagr Cooperative Insurance, and Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication grew 1.5%, 9.5%, 5%, and 4.5%, respectively.
UAE small-cap stocks saw active trading due to their attractive prices, Al Ajmi added.
The National Corporation for Tourism and Hotels (NCTH), Gulf Cement Company, and Marka rose 7.15%, 6.7%, and 3.7%, respectively.
OPEC countries confirmed on Tuesday their compliance with oil-output curbs, which will have a positive impact on petrochemical stocks in some exchanges on the back of an expected rise in oil prices, capital market analyst Hamid Angari said.
Most local portfolio investors still tend to purchase Gulf stocks which reached low price levels, despite anxiety of some investors over US Donald Trump’s policies with Arab countries, Angari added.
Translated by: Julian Nabil
