Surprising GCC Market Performance: A Weekly Roundup

In the GCC countries, most stocks experienced a decline, with the exception of the Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets. The UAE’s Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange index rose by 0.31% to 9,087.83 points with trading of 938.28 million dirhams, while the Dubai Securities Exchange index rose by 0.15% to 4,063.25 points with trading of 418.90 million dirhams.

In Saudi Arabia, the main market index of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) fell by 0.45% to 11,606.09 points, with trading of 315.31 million shares worth 6.3 billion riyals. The general market index of the Kuwait Stock Exchange also fell by 0.08% to 6937.13 points, with traded shares reaching a volume of 120.19 million shares through 11239 cash transactions worth 32.4 million dinars during its session in Kuwait City’s Boursa Kuwait stock exchange center on Monday morning.

The Bahrain All Share Index also fell by just over half a percent to reach a new low point in its history at around $27 on Tuesday evening.

Outside the Gulf region, various services and products were announced including dental teeth whitening, RV sales, website design and multimedia content services as well as advanced gingivitis care.

Financial optimization services and maintenance programs were also introduced.

Additionally, educational software was launched in various markets to help individuals learn more about finance and investing.

Overall it was a quiet week for GCC markets as they slowly recover from their recent downturn due to global economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19 pandemic and other macroeconomic factors such as political instability in certain regions.