عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

GCC Stocks Drop on Geopolitical Pressure

GCC Stocks Drop on Geopolitical Pressure
TT
20
TT

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).

Most Viewed

 
Business

Asian Stocks Gain after China Teases US Tariff Talks

Asian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains and as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs. JADE GAO / AFP/File
Asian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains and as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs. JADE GAO / AFP/File
TT
20
TT

Asian Stocks Gain after China Teases US Tariff Talks

Asian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains and as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs. JADE GAO / AFP/File
Asian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains and as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs. JADE GAO / AFP/File

Asian markets largely rose Friday, tracking Wall Street gains, as China said it was considering a US offer to negotiate steep tariffs.

US markets forged higher Thursday following strong results from tech giants Microsoft and Meta that helped offset lingering economic worries.

Apple reported first-quarter profit above expectations but warned that US tariffs could cost the company and were disrupting its supply chain.

And Amazon reported a nine percent rise in first-quarter revenue, but its outlook fell as potential impact from the US-China trade war rattled investors.

Washington's punishing levies reached 145 percent on many Chinese products in April, while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 percent duties on imports from the United States.

On Friday, China's commerce ministry said it was evaluating a US offer for negotiations on tariffs, but wanted Washington to show "sincerity" and be ready to scrap levies that have roiled global markets and supply chains.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that China has reached out for talks on the tariffs, and this week said he believed there was a "very good chance we're going to make a deal".

Dozens of countries face a 90-day deadline expiring in July to strike an agreement with Washington and avoid higher, country-specific rates.

Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said Beijing and Washington were now "waving detente flags" in their spiraling trade war.

Beijing's demand for sincerity was an apparent call to ditch the 145 percent rate, before holding serious talks, Innes said in a note Friday.

"But dig a layer deeper, and the path is still littered with landmines," he added.

In Asia trading Friday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up more than one percent in the morning, while Japan's main Nikkei index gained about 0.6 percent.

Japan's envoy for US tariff talks said in Washington on Thursday that a second round of negotiations between the two countries had been "frank and constructive".

Japan, a key US ally and its biggest investor, is subject to the same 10 percent baseline tariffs imposed on most nations plus steeper levies on cars, steel and aluminium.

The Bank of Japan warned earlier that tariffs were fueling global economic uncertainty and revised down its growth forecasts while keeping its key interest rate steady.

Traders are looking ahead Friday to US jobs data for April for indications of the US central bank's path for interest rates.