Gulf Stock Markets Rise Amid Oil Gains and Middle East Ceasefire

Post by : Raina Nasser

Photo:Reuters

Stock markets in the Gulf countries went up on Thursday morning, continuing the good trend from the past few days. This happened because oil prices got a bit higher, and it looked like the fight between Israel and Iran had stopped for now.

The President of the United States said that the air war between Iran and Israel ended quickly. He also mentioned that the US might ask Iran to stop making nuclear weapons during talks planned for next week.

Saudi Arabia’s main stock market index rose for the fourth day in a row, going up by 0.2%. Many companies there saw their stock prices go up. For example, the big oil company Saudi Aramco’s shares increased by 0.3%, and a company that makes modular houses, Red Sea International, went up by 3%.

Red Sea International also announced a plan to sell shares of one of its parts that deals with mechanical and electrical work on the Saudi stock market soon.

Oil prices are very important for the Gulf’s markets. On Thursday morning, oil prices rose by 0.2% because the amount of oil stored in the US was lower than expected, showing strong demand. Brent crude oil was priced at $67.83 per barrel.

In Abu Dhabi, their main stock market went up by 0.4%, helped by a 5.3% rise in RAK Properties and a small increase for the company Borouge by 0.6%.

Borouge said it will work with Honeywell to create the first AI-powered control room for the petrochemical industry, which is a big innovation.

Dubai’s main stock market also went up for the fifth day straight, rising 0.6%, helped by strong performances in materials, industry, and finance companies.

Two big companies, Salik (which manages road tolls) and Emirates NBD (the biggest bank in Dubai), also had their stocks rise by 1.8% and 0.6%, respectively.

Qatar’s stock market had a small increase, helped by gains in the materials, utilities, and communications sectors. Vodafone Qatar’s shares went up by 1.2%, but Qatar National Bank, the biggest bank in the region, dropped a little by 0.3%.

A big fund worth $200 million was created by Qatar’s main investment authority and a Canadian asset manager to help bring more investment, both from inside and outside the country, into Qatar’s stock market.