Saudi slump wipes out stock gains in Gulf

Graph downA fall of 3% in the largest stock market in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul exchange, caused an S&P index tracking the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council to stay flat in July.

The index of the Qatar exchange rose more than 7% during the month while the Dubai Financial Market went up by more than 5%, according to the report by the Kuwait Financial Centre.

“Other indices witnessed slight rise in index values, despite the steepest monthly fall in oil prices in 2016,” said the centre, an asset manager with $3.3 billion under management.

The Kuwait Financial Centre blamed the fall in Saudi stocks on the resilience of the US shale oil sector, which has become increasingly efficient in the face of the Saudi-led policy to flood the market with excess crude.

Across the Middle East region, Egypt was the star performer, with its stock index rising more than 13% in July. The centre said the rise came largely in the last week of the month, based on news that the country was close to securing a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

©2016 funds global mena

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