Global equity markets continued to maintain the positive momentum as the Middle East tensions receded during the week after de-escalation by the US and Iran. December US job market report was disappointing for market participants but a moderation was widely expected following November’s outsized additions. Brent crude oil prices were down 5.28% for the week, weighed by easing of tensions in the Middle East and rising concerns of a global glut in 2020.
For the regional markets, all the 8 indexes closed in negative territory during the week. Kuwait was the worst performing index regionally with losses of 1.32%, followed by 1.22% in Egypt and 0.91% in Bahrain. Saudi Arabia closed lower by 0.61% during the week; however, the broader index recovered most of the losses recorded at the start of the week.
Going forward, geopolitical uncertainty will continue to weigh on global markets; however, investors are superseding the concerns by shifting their attention towards improving macroeconomic environment and upcoming earnings season. In such market environment, it will become important to remain cautious and wait for tensions to stabilize in the coming weeks.
For the regional markets, the heightened geopolitical risk in the Middle East will continue to play out in the coming weeks and investors might look for signs of stabilization to regain confidence.
| Indexes | Last | WTD(%) | MTD(%) | YTD(%) | |
| Dubai(DFMGI) | ▼ | 2,749.26 | -0.72% | -0.56% | -0.56% |
| AbuDhabi(ADSMI) | ▼ | 5,075.69 | -0.48% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Saudi(SASEIDX) | ▼ | 8,345.77 | -0.61% | -0.52% | -0.52% |
| Kuwait(KWSE) | ▼ | 4,845.63 | -1.32% | -1.32% | -1.32% |
| Egypt(EGX30) | ▼ | 13,729.81 | -1.22% | -1.66% | -1.66% |
| Bahrain(BHSEIDX) | ▼ | 1,597.33 | -0.91% | -0.80% | -0.80% |
| Oman(MSM30) | ▼ | 3,977.16 | -0.70% | -0.10% | -0.10% |
| Commodities | Value | WTD(%) | MTD(%) | YTD(%) | |
| Gold (s/OZ) | ▲ | 1562.03 | 0.69% | 2.97% | 2.97% |
| Silver ($/Oz) | ▲ | 18.09 | 0.32% | 1.47% | 1.47% |
| WTI ($/bbl) | ▼ | 59.04 | -6.36% | -3.31% | -3.31% |
| Natural Gas | ▲ | 2.2 | 3.38% | 0.59% | 0.59% |
| OPEC Oil ($/bl) | ▼ | 64.98 | -5.28% | -1.55% | -1.55% |
| Copper ($/MT) | ▲ | 6193.5 | 0.49% | -0.10% | -0.10% |
| Aluminium ($/MT) | ▲ | 1808.75 | 0.69% | -0.75% | -0.75% |
| FX Rates | Value | WTD (%) | MTD (%) | YTD (%) | |
| USD/AED | ▲ | 3.6728 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| USD/SAR | ▼ | 3.7512 | -0.01% | 0.01% | 0.01% |
| USD/EGP | ▼ | 15.95 | -0.25% | -0.31% | -0.31% |
| USD/EUR | ▲ | 0.899 | 0.36% | 0.82% | 0.82% |
| USD/JPY | ▲ | 109.46 | 1.28% | 0.78% | 0.78% |
