Saudi bourse gains after Fed signals lower rates; Qatar falls
By Ateeq Shariff
Aug 25 (Reuters) -Saudi Arabia's stock market rose on Sunday after Friday's speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell confirmed the United States would soon begin interest rate cuts.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday endorsed an imminent start to interest rate cuts, saying further cooling in the job market would be unwelcome and expressing confidence that inflation is within reach of the U.S. central bank's 2% target.
Traders increased bets for a bigger rate cut in September following Powell's speech, with the fed funds futures now pricing in a 37% chance of a 50 basis point cut next month, up from about 25% late on Thursday.
Traders are also pricing in about 106 bps of cuts by the end of the year.
Monetary policy in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), including the UAE, is usually guided by the Fed's decisions, as most regional currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index .TASI advanced 0.6%, with Saudi Telecom Company 7010.SE jumping 9.9%, after the telecoms company announced a 0.55 riyal per share quarterly dividend for the next three years starting from fourth-quarter.
Elsewhere, oil giant Saudi Aramco 2222.SE gained 0.7%.
Oil prices on Friday jumped more than 2%, rebounding after losses earlier in the week on swelling U.S. crude stocks and a weakening demand outlook in China.
The Qatari benchmark .QSI eased 0.2%, hit by a 0.7% fall in Qatar Islamic Bank QISB.QA.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index .EGX30 lost 0.2%, with Commercial International Bank Egypt COMI.CA down 1.1%.
SAUDI ARABIA | .TASI rose 0.5% to 12,263 |
QATAR | .QSI eased 0.2% to 10,105 |
EGYPT | .EGX30 lost 0.2% to 30,074 |
BAHRAIN | .BAX dropped 0.5% to 1,930 |
OMAN | .MSX30 gained 0.3% to 4,688 |
KUWAIT | .BKP lost 0.5% to 7,764 |
Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru
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