Global equity markets rebounded during the week, with the exception of the US markets. Sentiments were boosted by positive developments in the COVID-19 pandemic and Central Banks continuing to introduce significant stimulus measures to reduce the overall damage.
The month of April witnessed a strong rebound in global equities after a severe shock in March, despite considerable uncertainty over the trajectory of growth in the coming quarters. Brent crude prices also rebounded strongly during the week with a gain of 23.32% on the back of smaller than expected build-up in US inventories and hopes of earlier than expected reopening of global economies.
For the region, sentiments were upbeat during the week as all the 7 regional indexes closed in green. Saudi Arabia led the region with gains of 7.69%, followed by 7.17% in Dubai, 5.18% in Kuwait, and 4.28% in Egypt. The regional markets performed positively during April with all indexes closing in green, while Bahrain was the only index to end in negative territory. Dubai was the best performer regionally in April with gains of 14.41%, followed by 13.27% in Abu Dhabi, 10.01% in Egypt, and 9.34% in Saudi Arabia.
Going forward, the phased reopening of global economies coupled with developments in new COVID-19 cases will dominate the trading activity in the coming weeks. However, investors should remain cautious and closely monitor the leading indicators for signs of gradual improvement from the COVID-19 shutdown.
For the region, investors will closely monitor the progress of gradual reopening to gauge the pace of recovery in domestic economies. Additionally, the provisioning undertaken by the leading banks in Q1 2020 will also be important to monitor as it is an indication of the expected slippages within the region due to COVID-19.
| Indexes | Last | WTD (%) | MTD (%) | YTD (%) | |
| Dubai (DFMGI) | ▲ | 2,026.61 | 7.17% | 14.41% | -26.70% |
| Abu Dhabi (ADSMI) | ▲ | 4,230.37 | 4.12% | 13.27% | -16.66% |
| Saudi (SASEIDX) | ▲ | 7,112.90 | 7.69% | 9.34% | -15.21% |
| Kuwait (KWSE) | ▲ | 4,226.44 | 5.18% | 3.51% | -13.93% |
| Egypt (EGX30) | ▲ | 10,554.04 | 4.28% | 10.01% | -24.41% |
| Bahrain (BHSEIDX) | ▲ | 1,310.73 | 0.24% | -2.95% | -18.60% |
| Oman (MSM30) | ▲ | 3,539.46 | 1.65% | 2.64% | -11.10% |
| Commodities | Value | WTD (%) | MTD (%) | YTD (%) | |
| Gold (s/OZ) | ▼ | 1699.12 | -1.64% | 1.13% | 12.00% |
| Silver ($/Oz) | ▼ | 14.94 | -1.97% | -0.53% | -16.21% |
| WTI ($/bbl) | ▲ | 19.78 | 16.77% | 4.99% | -67.61% |
| Natural Gas | ▲ | 1.89 | 8.25% | -3.03% | -13.66% |
| OPEC Oil ($/bl) | ▲ | 26.44 | 23.32% | 4.63% | -59.94% |
| Copper ($/MT) | ▼ | 5087 | -0.86% | -3.84% | -17.95% |
| Aluminium ($/MT) | ▼ | 1484.92 | -1.72% | -1.50% | -18.52% |
| FX Rates | Value | WTD (%) | MTD (%) | YTD (%) | |
| USD/AED | ▲ | 3.6728 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| USD/SAR | ▼ | 3.754 | -0.11% | -0.04% | 0.09% |
| USD/EGP | ▼ | 15.7 | -0.51% | 0.00% | -1.88% |
| USD/EUR | ▼ | 0.9105 | -1.45% | -0.22% | 2.11% |
| USD/JPY | ▼ | 106.93 | -0.53% | -0.22% | -1.55% |
