Global equity markets closed the week on a positive note on the back of growing optimism over a possible trade deal between the US and China. Further, data on US consumer spending rising by 4.7% in the second quarter also helped the markets to extend the positive trend during the week.
For the month of August, global equities performed negatively, mainly due to concerns over the ongoing trade conflict between the US and China, fading optimism of more rate cuts in the coming months by the US Fed, and disappointing economic data.
For the regional markets, the performance during the week was mixed with 4 out of the 8 indexes closing in green, while the remaining 4 closed in red. Egypt was the best performing index regionally with gains of 3.50%, while Saudi Arabia was the worst performing index with losses of 5.04%, followed by 0.37% in Dubai.
Going forward, investors are likely to take a cautious stance and not get carried away with the optimism over a possible trade deal as such instances have led to disappointment in the past. For the regional markets, trading activity will be largely driven by developments in the global markets and expectations of earnings for the third quarter.
| Indexes | Last | WTD (%) | MTD (%) | YTD (%) | |
| Dubai (DFMGI) | ▼ | 2,758.60 | -0.37% | -5.47% | 9.05% |
| Abu Dhabi (ADSMI) | ▲ | 5,165.57 | 2.51% | -2.86% | 5.10% |
| Saudi (SASEIDX) | ▼ | 8,019.77 | -5.04% | -8.16% | 2.47% |
| Kuwait (KWSE) | ▼ | 4,789.35 | -0.22% | -1.89% | 1.07% |
| Egypt (EGX30) | ▲ | 14,835.36 | 3.50% | 10.77% | 13.81% |
| Bahrain (BHSEIDX) | ▼ | 1,533.09 | -0.03% | -0.94% | 14.64% |
| Oman (MSM30) | ▲ | 4,004.86 | 0.43% | 6.49% | -7.38% |
| Commodities | Value | WTD (%) | MTD (%) | YTD (%) | |
| Gold (s/OZ) | ▼ | 1519.85 | -0.41% | 7.52% | 18.49% |
| Silver ($/Oz) | ▲ | 18.35 | 5.52% | 12.89% | 18.54% |
| WTI ($/bbl) | ▲ | 55.1 | 1.72% | -5.94% | 21.34% |
| Natural Gas | ▲ | 2.29 | 6.18% | 2.33% | -22.28% |
| OPEC Oil ($/bl) | ▲ | 60.43 | 1.84% | -7.27% | 12.32% |
| Copper ($/MT) | ▼ | 5704.97 | -0.49% | -3.92% | -5.45% |
| Aluminium ($/MT) | ▼ | 1751.17 | -2.05% | -3.02% | -4.98% |
| FX Rates | Value | WTD (%) | MTD (%) | YTD (%) | |
| USD/AED | ▲ | 3.6728 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| USD/SAR | ▲ | 3.75 | 0.01% | -0.01% | -0.02% |
| USD/EGP | ▼ | 16.5 | -0.12% | 0.00% | -7.61% |
| USD/EUR | ▲ | 0.9097 | 1.38% | 0.78% | 4.36% |
| USD/JPY | ▲ | 106.29 | 0.85% | -2.25% | -2.98% |
