Regional markets likely to remain range bound due to lack of catalyst

0
305

Global markets continued the positive momentum during the month of February. Better than expected economic data from China, benign US inflation and optimism over possible trade agreement have continued to support equity markets since the start of 2019. WTI oil prices were under pressure during the week with losses of 2.5% but recorded gains of 3.7% in the month of February.

For the regional markets, the sentiments were mixed during the month. Egypt was the best performing index with gains of 4.8%, followed by 2.7% in Dubai and 1.8% in Abu Dhabi, followed by 0.8% in Saudi Arabia during the month of February. UAE indexes were supported by gains in the real estate sector, especially after reporting better than expected earnings during the last quarter of 2018.

For the week, Oman and Abu Dhabi were the best performing markets with gains of 2.2% and 0.8%, respectively, while Egypt was the worst performing with losses of 2.3%. Going forward, regional markets are likely to remain range bound due to lack of catalyst post the earnings season.

Indexes   Last WTD (%) MTD (%) YTD (%)
Dubai (DFMGI) 2,635.78 0.1% 2.7% 4.2%
Abu Dhabi (ADSMI) 5,137.81 0.8% 1.8% 4.5%
Saudi (SASEIDX) 8,492.70 -0.6% -0.8% 8.5%
Kuwait (KWSE) 4,772.99 -0.4% -0.5% 0.7%
Egypt (EGX30) 14,803.97 -2.3% 4.8% 13.6%
Bahrain (BHSEIDX) 1,412.66 0.6% 1.5% 5.6%
Oman (MSM30) 4,144.47 2.2% -0.5% -4.1%

 

Commodities   Value WTD (%) MTD (%) YTD (%)
Gold (s/OZ) 1293.31 -2.6% -2.1% 0.8%
Silver ($/Oz) 15.2 -4.5% -5.4% -1.8%
WTI ($/bbl) 55.8 -2.5% 3.7% 22.9%
Natural Gas 2.86 5.2% 1.6% -2.8%
OPEC Oil ($/bl) 65.07 -3.1% 5.1% 20.9%
Copper ($/MT) 6499.85 1.7% 5.7% 7.7%
Aluminium ($/MT) 1911.25 0.4% 0.0% 3.7%

 

FX Rates   Value WTD (%) MTD (%) YTD (%)
USD/AED 3.6727 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
USD/SAR 3.7499 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
USD/EGP 17.46 -0.2% -1.0% -2.2%
USD/EUR 0.8788 -0.3% 0.6% 0.8%
USD/JPY 111.9 1.1% 2.8% 2.1%

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here