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GCC Stocks Drop on Geopolitical Pressure

GCC Stocks Drop on Geopolitical Pressure
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GCC Stocks Drop on Geopolitical Pressure

GCC Stocks Drop on Geopolitical Pressure

GCC stock markets dived on Monday trading amid increased geopolitical tension after Saudi and UAE oil tankers suffered “sabotage operations” near the Emirati territorial waters. They were also affected by the pressure of the US-China trade war.

The Saudi stock index dropped 3.55 percent, Abu Dhabi index 3.32 percent, Dubai Financial Market 3.97 percent and Kuwait Stock Exchange index 1.37 percent.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index closed at 308.02 points lower at 8366.64 points on Monday, with trades worth more than SAR5.3 billion riyals ($1.4 billion).

More than 180 million shares were traded among more than 120,000 deals, with eight companies posting gains, while shares of 174 companies closed with decline.

The index of Saudi Nomu-Parallel Market closed Monday at 3424.31 points down 68.99 points and with tradings worth more than SAR2.5 million ($667 million).

The number of shares traded exceeded 140,000 among 134 deals.

In UAE, however, Dubai Financial Market index dropped by 3.97 percent, losing 104.29 points, to close at 2525.61 points.

Trading volume amounted to 231.1 million shares at a total value of AED300.1 million (about $82 million) after closing 4,599 deals for 36 shares.

In addition, eight sectors witnessed decline, headed by the goods sector by 7.49 percent, followed by real estate sector by 5.64 percent, investment sectors by 5.23 percent, insurance sector by 3.83 percent, banking sector by 3.49 percent, transport sector by 3.01 percent, services sector by 1.80 percent and communications sector by 0.98 percent.

The General index in Bahrain closed Monday at 1.416.15 points, down 11.56 points from the previous close, due to the decline in the indexes of commercial banks and investment, services and industrial sectors.

Bahrain Islamic Bank’s index closed at 758.79, down 19.52 points from its previous close.

Kuwait Stock Exchange ended its trading Monday with a decline in its general index by 59.5 points to reach the level of 5632.4 points, a 1.05 percent drop.

The total number of transactions of the index amounted to 125.9 million shares, through 5,826 transactions worth KD33.2 million (about $110 million).

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Britain Vows to Toughen Its Trade Defenses Under New Strategy

Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jonathan Reynolds speaks during Britain's Labour Party annual conference, in Brighton, Britain, September 27, 2021. (Reuters)
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jonathan Reynolds speaks during Britain's Labour Party annual conference, in Brighton, Britain, September 27, 2021. (Reuters)
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Britain Vows to Toughen Its Trade Defenses Under New Strategy

Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jonathan Reynolds speaks during Britain's Labour Party annual conference, in Brighton, Britain, September 27, 2021. (Reuters)
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jonathan Reynolds speaks during Britain's Labour Party annual conference, in Brighton, Britain, September 27, 2021. (Reuters)

Britain said it would toughen up its trade defenses to better protect industries amid a turbulent global outlook of trade wars and tariffs that has shaped its new trade strategy to be published on Thursday.

Britain is set to partially implement a deal to remove some of US President Donald Trump's tariffs, but acknowledged that its trade remedies system needed to be more "agile, assertive, and accountable to guard British businesses against global turbulence".

"The UK is an open trading nation, but we must reconcile this with a new geopolitical reality and work in our own national interest," Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said.

"Our trade strategy will sharpen our trade defense so we can ensure British businesses are protected from harm."

As part of the strategy, the government will reform the Trade Remedies Authority.

UK Steel has said that the TRA's current powers, under which it proposed to cap how much of certain kinds of steel could be imported, needed to be more robust, and welcomed the trade strategy as a "critical turning point".

Britain is aiming to remove US tariffs on steel imports under their agreement, although the implementation of the deal has not been finalized.

The government has stepped in to take control of British Steel, and other industries are also seeking support, with AB Foods extending its deadline for deciding the fate of its Vivergo bioethanol plant to Thursday in the hope of a support package.

The trade strategy is Britain's first since it has had an independent trade policy after leaving the European Union.

The previous Conservative government hailed the opportunities of Brexit as it pursued several free trade agreements.

While the Labor government, which came to power a year ago, has concluded free trade agreement talks with India and is making progress on another with the Gulf Cooperation Council, it said the new strategy would focus on quicker and more practical deals than the previous government did.