By Ateeq Shariff
(Reuters) – Most Gulf stock markets were depressed on Sunday amid geopolitical conflicts and uncertainties over U.S. Federal Reserve policy.
In its first direct attack on Israel, Iran sent a barrage of more than 300 missiles and drones on April 13 in what it said was retaliation for Israel's alleged deadly attack on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei thanked the country's armed forces for their attack on Israel and said the country had demonstrated its power regardless of how many targets were hit, Iran's official news agency reported on Sunday.
Separately, Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said on Friday that progress in reducing inflation had “stalled” this year, becoming the latest U.S. central banker to shift away from previously focusing on the next need. of interest rate cuts.
Among individual Middle East markets, Saudi Arabia's benchmark index rose 0.1%, helped by a 2.6% rise in ACWA Power.
The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that Middle East economies would grow this year at a slower pace than it had previously projected, as the war in Gaza, attacks on Red Sea shipping and lower oil production take hold. add to the existing challenges of high debt and borrowing costs.
The IMF revised down its 2024 growth forecast for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to 2.7% from 3.4% in its October regional outlook.
The Qatari benchmark fell 0.4%, hit by a 1.6% drop in petrochemical manufacturer Industries Qatar and a 1% drop in Qatar Islamic Bank.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index advanced 1%, after falling more than 4% in previous sessions, led by a 1.4% rise in top lender Commercial International Bank.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Egypt's net foreign assets (NEA) deficit fell in March to its lowest level in more than two years, apparently helped by a giant sale of real estate development rights and a currency reform, according to showed data published on the ECB website. .
SAUDI ARABIA rose 0.1% to 12,518
QATAR fell 0.4% to 9,792
EGYPT gained 1% to 28,623
BAHRAIN fell 0.2% until 2017
OMAN fell 0.3% to 4,704
KUWAIT added 0.9% to 7,643
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
