The Gulf financial markets were relatively cohesive during their dealings yesterday, amid quiet purchases and a clear pulse, by financial and investment institutions, portfolios and funds, to ensure the stability of the situation after the losses incurred the day before yesterday, of about 94 billion dollars, in light of the panic the world due to the new Corona mutant “Omicron”.
The Kuwaiti, Saudi, Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges, according to “Kamco Invest” data, made gains of $16.09 billion yesterday, equivalent to about 16 percent of their market losses the day before yesterday, with the exception of the Qatar Stock Exchange, which increased its losses by recording an additional drop of 463.7 million.
The Abu Dhabi Financial Market (ADFM) acquired the majority of the Gulf stock exchanges’ gains with $13.3 billion, equivalent to 83 percent of the total, followed by the Saudi market “Tadawul” with 1.57 billion, then the Dubai Financial Market with 1.05 billion, then Kuwait with $452 million, and finally Bahrain with 149 million.
Gulf markets closed their indices stable after a discrepancy in performance over the time allotted for trading, as the general index of the Kuwait Stock Exchange closed at a rise of 22.7 points, equivalent to 0.33 percent, after the beginning was very active.
Most of the liquidity traded locally during yesterday’s session was concentrated on the leading stocks, most notably “KFH”, “NBK”, “Al Ahli United” and “KIB”, in addition to operational entities such as “Agility”, “Zain” and others.
The Saudi market, which is the largest market in the region in terms of market value, recorded a slight increase of 22.8 points, equivalent to only 0.2 percent, marking the cessation of losses and setting limits for them due to what the scene is currently witnessing.
The Dubai Financial Market gained 53.5 points, or 1.77 percent, while the Abu Dhabi Financial Market closed up by 178.6 points, or 2.15 percent, and the Bahrain Stock Exchange closed with a 9.3 point increase, or 0.54 percent.
“Al-Rai” monitored a move by major traders on operational shares, including strategic shareholders, after their prices reached very attractive levels for purchase, while maintaining their current values, and setting limits for decline in light of the random sales witnessed by small shareholders, amid the state of anxiety that prevailed.
The investment scene locally was not without caution, especially after the stocks that were controlled by hot money for long periods, retreated to prices close to their previous starting point, so that their return to activity again depends on speculative moves, while quiet purchases flowed into the leading stocks, especially the Premier Market components.
It was noted that the licensed market makers were almost completely absent during the first sessions of the week, as it is difficult to risk uncalculated purchases of their shares, which witnessed a sharp decline, in unacceptably large quantities. However, the gradual return to stability and activity requires a fundamental role from these investment institutions.
Investment circles expect the financial markets to gradually recover in the coming days, especially with the stability of oil prices, and the general scene of the new pivot and ways to confront it become clear, as the Kuwait Stock Exchange and other Gulf markets are still in the rising channel that qualifies them for activity again, pointing out that the global financial markets will remain under observation in the coming days.