Last week, global equity markets closed lower for the third consecutive week on concerns over slowing global growth. The downward pressure intensified mid-week on the back of disappointing economic data from Germany and China, which further renewed fears of recession.
However, healthy pace of growth in US productivity and better than expected growth in retail sales in July ensured that the markets recovered part of the losses towards the end of the week. Despite the slowdown in global economic growth, Brent crude oil prices recorded a modest growth of 0.19% during the week.
For the regional markets, the performance during the week was negative with 5 out of the 8 indexes closing in red, while Egypt was the only index to close in green. Saudi Arabia and Oman were closed for the week on occasion of Eid Al Adha. Dubai performed negatively with losses of 1.49%, while Egypt closed higher by 0.81% for the week.
Going forward, the global uncertainties are likely to keep volatility at elevated levels. Investors will remain cautious but continue to focus on companies with strong fundamentals and ability to outperform peers.
For the regional markets, investors will return from holidays and ascertain the impact of events unfolding in global equities over the past one week to accordingly realign their portfolios.
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