Regional Markets To Follow Developments On OPEC+ Deal

Global equity markets recorded a negative performance during the week as economic indicators have started reflecting meaningful impact to growth, pushing the world into recession in H1 2020. Furthermore, the rise in US jobless claims and the collapse of industrial sentiment indicators, especially in service sectors, further substantiates that the regulators would focus on averting depression with unprecedented policy measures. 

Given that the risk-off mode has been playing out within the markets, investors have moved into safe havens including gold, government bonds, and the US dollar to rebalance investment portfolios and reduce overall volatility and risk. Meanwhile, Brent crude prices surged by 36.82% during the week on the back of a report suggesting that OPEC and its allies are working on a new deal for production cuts amid the ongoing pandemic. 

For the region, the weekly performance was negative, in line with the sentiments witnessed in global markets, as 6 out of the 7 regional indexes closed in red. While Saudi Arabia was the only index to record gains of 6.68%; Dubai was the worst performer in the region with losses of 4.77%, followed by losses of 4.62% in Egypt, 4.39% in Oman, and 4.25% in Bahrain. 

Going forward, the downward risk will continue to playout as the pandemic paralyses majority of the global economies. Investors will closely monitor a broad range of indicators, ranging from new infection cases to economic data, for signals on the future trajectory of markets. Moreover, signs of flattening infection curve will be positive for the regional markets, but investors should be cautious and look for additional data points to confirm the trend. Regional markets will closely follow the developments on the OPEC+ deal as it will have a direct impact on the domestic economies, going forward.