Global equity markets closed in negative territory during the week, as they were influenced by corporate earnings and the renewed tensions in US-China trade. However, prospects of rate cuts continued to remain a broader theme for the markets, which helped in minimizing the losses recorded during the week. Brent crude oil prices were down by 6.03% during the week, on the back of concerns of elevated stockpiles accumulating globally.
For the regional markets, the performance during the week was mostly positive, with 5 out of the 8 indexes closing in green, while the remaining 3 closed in red. The regional markets were influenced by Q2 2019 corporate earnings, which has been largely positive in leading sectors, especially banks.
Abu Dhabi and Dubai were the top performers during the week, largely driven by strong quarterly earnings from the country’s two largest banks. Abu Dhabi was the best performer with gains of 3.28%, followed by 2.88% in Dubai; while Oman was the worst performing index with losses of 1.59%, followed by 1.04% in Egypt.
Going forward, equity markets will continue to focus on the quarterly earnings and closely monitor the developments unfolding in US-China trade saga. For the regional markets, investors will continue to take cues from corporate earnings to access the sectors/companies that are expected to lead the growth trajectory.
| Indexes | Last | WTD (%) | MTD (%) | YTD (%) | |
| Dubai (DFMGI) | ▼ | 2,739.26 | -0.86% | 3.03% | 8.28% |
| Abu Dhabi (ADSMI) | ▲ | 5,235.37 | 0.33% | 5.13% | 6.52% |
| Saudi (SASEIDX) | ▼ | 8,957.80 | -0.84% | 1.54% | 14.45% |
| Kuwait (KWSE) | ▼ | 4,880.46 | -0.42% | 3.04% | 2.99% |
| Egypt (EGX30) | ▼ | 13,576.26 | -0.69% – | 3.72% | 4.15% |
| Bahrain (BHSEIDX) | ▼ | 1,534.16 | -0.24% | 4.29% | 14.72% |
| Oman (MSM30) | ▲ | 3,770.52 | 0.61% | -2.92% | -12.71% |
| Value | WTD (%) | MTD (%) | YTD (%) | ||
| Gold (s/OZ) | ▼ | 1424.91 | 0.79% | 1.12% | 11.08% |
| Silver ($/Oz) | ▼ | 16.21 | 5.40% | 5.86% | 4.68% |
| WTI ($/bbl) | ▲ | 55.63 | -6.63% | -4.86% | 22.51% |
| Natural Gas | ▼ | 2.25 | -6.52% | -2.47% | -23.44% |
| OPEC Oil ($/bl) | ▲ | 62.47 | -6.03% | -6.13% | 16.12% |
| Copper ($/MT) | ▲ | 6104.59 | 2.54% | 1.88% | 1.18% |
| Aluminium ($/MT) | ▲ | 1854.11 | 1.90% | 3.22% | 0.60% |
| FX Rates | Value | WTD (%) | MTD (%) | YTD (%) | |
| USD/AED | ▲ | 3.6730 | 0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% |
| USD/SAR | ▼ | 3.7502 | 0.00% | 0.01% | -0.02% |
| USD/EGP | ▼ | 16.5600 | -0.06% | -0.54% | -7.28% |
| USD/EUR | ▲ | 0.8909 | 0.43% | 1.31% | 2.20% |
| USD/JPY | ▲ | 107.7000 | -0.18% | -0.17% | -1.70% |
