Gulf Markets See Mixed Gains as Investors Await US Inflation Data

An investor watches a screen displaying stock information on the Saudi Stock Market (Tadawul) in Riyadh. (Reuters)
An investor watches a screen displaying stock information on the Saudi Stock Market (Tadawul) in Riyadh. (Reuters)
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Gulf Markets See Mixed Gains as Investors Await US Inflation Data

An investor watches a screen displaying stock information on the Saudi Stock Market (Tadawul) in Riyadh. (Reuters)
An investor watches a screen displaying stock information on the Saudi Stock Market (Tadawul) in Riyadh. (Reuters)

As the world anticipates crucial economic data - specifically US consumer prices - most Gulf markets posted mixed gains at the start of this week. This performance reflects the influence of global stocks after a challenging period for investors, driven by fears of a US recession.

Most Gulf stock markets closed at the beginning of the week with increases ranging between 2 and 0.2 percent, supported by positive economic data last week, and the statement of some policymakers in the US Federal Reserve that they may reduce interest rates next September, according to Reuters.

In a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Head of Asset Management at Arbah Capital, Mohammed Al-Farraj, explained that the recovery of Gulf markets is driven by several factors. Chief among them are expectations of improved global economic performance, supported by central banks in many countries easing monetary policies.

Additionally, the region is benefitting from rising oil prices, increased foreign investment inflows, and improved financial conditions for companies, he remarked.

Al-Farraj stressed that the performance of Gulf markets in the coming period will be affected by US inflation data, which will be a decisive factor in determining the course of interest rates.

For his part, Chief Economist at Riyad Bank, Dr. Nayef Al-Ghaith, told Asharq Al-Awsat that expectations of the Federal Reserve’s decisions in September and the rest of 2024 depend largely on the economic data, such as inflation rates, unemployment, and GDP growth.

“Central banks in the Gulf countries often follow the movement of the Federal Reserve due to the peg of their currencies to the dollar. Therefore, any change in US interest rates could be reflected in borrowing costs and deposits in Gulf banks,” he remarked.

According to Reuters, three Federal Reserve policymakers expressed confidence on Thursday that inflation had decreased sufficiently to warrant a reduction in interest rate. This news, combined with a larger-than-expected drop in US unemployment claims, contributed to a market recovery.

The US Department of Labor reported a 17,000 decrease in initial claims for government unemployment benefits, bringing the total to 233,000 seasonally adjusted claims for the week ending Aug. 3. This decline marks the largest drop in about 11 months.



China Extends Visa-free Entry to More Than 70 Countries to Draw Tourists

Tourists take a souvenir photo as they visit the Temple of Heaven, in Beijing on June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Tourists take a souvenir photo as they visit the Temple of Heaven, in Beijing on June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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China Extends Visa-free Entry to More Than 70 Countries to Draw Tourists

Tourists take a souvenir photo as they visit the Temple of Heaven, in Beijing on June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Tourists take a souvenir photo as they visit the Temple of Heaven, in Beijing on June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Foreign tourists are trickling back to China after the country loosened its visa policy to unprecedented levels. Citizens from 74 countries can now enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, a big jump from previous regulations.

The government has been steadily expanding visa-free entry in a bid to boost tourism, the economy and its soft power. More than 20 million foreign visitors entered without a visa in 2024 — almost one-third of the total and more than double from the previous year, according to the National Immigration Administration.

“This really helps people to travel because it is such a hassle to apply for a visa and go through the process,” Georgi Shavadze, a Georgian living in Austria, said on a recent visit to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

While most tourist sites are still packed with far more domestic tourists than foreigners, travel companies and tour guides are now bracing for a bigger influx in anticipation of summer holiday goers coming to China,
The Associated Press reported.

“I’m practically overwhelmed with tours and struggling to keep up” says Gao Jun, a veteran English-speaking tour guide with over 20 years of experience. To meet growing demand, he launched a new business to train anyone interested in becoming an English-speaking tour guide. “I just can’t handle them all on my own” he said.

After lifting tough COVID-19 restrictions, China reopened its borders to tourists in early 2023, but only 13.8 million people visited in that year, less than half the 31.9 million in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.

In December 2023, China announced visa-free entry for citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia. Almost all of Europe has been added since then. Travelers from five Latin American countries and Uzbekistan became eligible last month, followed by four in the Middle East. The total will grow to 75 on July 16 with the addition of Azerbaijan.

About two-thirds of the countries have been granted visa-free entry on a one-year trial basis.

For Norwegian traveler Øystein Sporsheim, this means his family would no longer need to make two round-trip visits to the Chinese embassy in Oslo to apply for a tourist visa, a time-consuming and costly process with two children in tow. “They don’t very often open, so it was much harder” he said.

“The new visa policies are 100% beneficial to us,” said Jenny Zhao, a managing director of WildChina, which specializes in boutique and luxury routes for international travelers. She said business is up 50% compared with before the pandemic.

While the US remains their largest source market, accounting for around 30% of their current business, European travelers now make up 15–20% of their clients, a sharp increase from less than 5% before 2019, according to Zhao. “We’re quite optimistic” Zhao said, “we hope these benefits will continue.”

Trip.com Group, a Shanghai-based online travel agency, said the visa-free policy has significantly boosted tourism. Air, hotel and other bookings on their website for travel to China doubled in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year, with 75% of the visitors from visa-free regions.

No major African country is eligible for visa-free entry, despite the continent’s relatively close ties with China.

North Americans and some others in transit can enter for 10 days Those from 10 countries not in the visa-free scheme have another option: entering China for up to 10 days if they depart for a different country than the one they came from. The policy is limited to 60 ports of entry, according to the country's National Immigration Administration.

The transit policy applies to 55 countries, but most are also on the 30-day visa-free entry list. It does offer a more restrictive option for citizens of the 10 countries that aren't: the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Sweden, Russia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Indonesia, Canada, the US and Mexico.

Aside from the UK, Sweden is the only other high-income European country that didn’t make the 30-day list. Ties with China have frayed since the ruling Chinese Communist Party sentenced a Swedish book seller, Gui Minhai, to prison for 10 years in 2020. Gui disappeared in 2015 from his seaside home in Thailand but turned up months later in police custody in mainland China.