Egypt’s Decline In Scholarships Continues; Gulf Scholarships End Mixed

(CTN News) – After a series of inflation readings, Gulf Egypt stock markets struggled on Sunday amid rising crude oil prices and receding hopes of a rapid cut in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve.

With Middle East tensions supporting oil prices, Egypt Gulf financial markets settled higher on Friday.

Despite two straight sessions of losses, the benchmark index of Qatar ended 0.3% higher after losing the previous two sessions. All sectors were in a positive position at the end of the session.

Masraf Al Rayan and Qatar Islamic Bank both added 0.9% and 0.7% to their shares, respectively, while Industries Qatar added 0.3%.

It was the fifth straight session in which Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index fell, falling by 0.2%, and almost all sectors were in the red. The shares of ACWA Power and Middle East Pharmaceutical Industries dropped 5.7% and 2.1%, respectively, in the past week.

However, Arab National Bank gained 1.9% following the bank’s announcement of a 15.7% increase in its quarterly net profit for the quarter ended September 30.

The US monthly inflation rate rose modestly in March, but stubbornly high costs for housing and utilities suggested the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates elevated for some time to come.

Since most of the Gulf currencies are pegged to the dollar, any changes in US monetary policy will usually be followed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar as well.

There has been no improvement in Egypt’s blue-chip index outside the Gulf, which has fallen for a fourth straight session and lost 4.9% to 24,640, its lowest level since December.

There were declines of 9.7% and 6.9% for Talaat Mostafa Group and Egypt Kuwait Holding, respectively, and a fall of 4.8% for Commercial International Bank.

In the meantime, the IMF said on Friday that Egypt has committed to addressing its reliance on the central bank’s overdraft facilities and off-budget public sector activity, which have contributed to the pressure on the currency and exchange rate affecting the country’s currency.

SAUDI ARABIA’s stock index fell 0.2% to 12,230

KUWAIT decreased by 0.1% to 7,654

To 9,667, QATAR rose 0.3%

The number of Egyptians fell by 4.9% to 24,640

BAHRAIN increased by 0.4% to 2,024

To 4,761, OMAN gained 1%

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