GCC: Equity Markets Mixed, UAE Shares Plummet

The GCC stock markets were mixed on Sunday morning while the UAE markets slumped, shrugging off Dh100 billion stimulus package announced by the Central Bank on Saturday as investors were taking a cue from oil prices, coronavirus and global equity markets.

Dubai Financial Market plummeted five percent while Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange slipped two percent in the first hour of trading on the first trading day of the week.

The UAE bourses were driven lower by banking and financial stocks such as Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Shuaa Capital, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. Blue-chip bellwether Emaar Properties was also down five percent.

On Saturday, the UAE Central Bank announced a Dh100 billion stimulus package to help banks cope with any shortfall of liquidity and support economy small and medium businesses and retail sector to combat the impact of coronavirus. Brent crude recorded a steep drop of 25.23 percent last week, its worst weekly fall since the 2008 financial crisis, following Saudi Arabia's decision to increase exports post the fallout to reach an agreement with Russia.

Among other regional bourses, Saudi Arabia's Tadawul gained 1.5 percent, Oman's Muscat Securities Market was up half a percent and Bahrain Bourse inched up 0.36 percent in the morning trade. Boursa Kuwait slumped 5.5 percent.

Going forward, Allied Investment Partner said investors will access all the news surrounding the developments of coronavirus and government measures to gauge the impact on global economies, which will accordingly dominate the trading activity during the week. For the regional markets, investors will closely monitor the developments in the global markets, especially the movement in oil prices, said Iyad Abu Hweij, managing director of Allied Investment Partners.

Last week, equity markets in the region performed negatively with all the 8 indexes closing in red during the week.