The stock markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries saw declines on Wednesday at the beginning of May, with investors citing a drop in oil prices and anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates as factors contributing to the decline.
In Saudi Arabia, real gross domestic product declined by 1.8% in the first quarter, primarily due to ongoing impacts from decreased oil activities. Meanwhile, the general index of the Kuwait Stock Exchange fell by 0.36%, while trading activity recorded 198.7 million shares traded through 12,139 cash transactions, worth 37.9 million dinars.
On this day of observance of Labor Day, Bahrain’s Stock Exchange and Bahrain Clear were closed but are expected to resume operations on Thursday. The Qatari index also fell by 0.2%, influenced by declines in Qatar Islamic Bank shares and Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding shares. In Oman, the Muscat Stock Exchange “30” index experienced a slight decrease to 4767.23 points with a trading value of 2.36 million Omani riyals.
Outside of the Gulf region, Egypt’s leading stock index rose by an impressive 3.4%, with gains seen across all listed stocks including Talaat Mostafa shares up by 7.9% and Commercial International Bank shares up by 1.5%.