Gulf dips as Fed cuts rate

Samba hits eight-month low

DUBAI, Aug 1, (RTRS): Major Gulf stock markets fell on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points but, significantly, signaled the move may not mark the beginning of a long easing cycle.

Markets had been looking for the Fed to signal more cuts were coming. Central banks in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar followed the move, cutting their rates by the same degree. Their currencies are pegged to the US dollar and they follow the Fed on interest rate moves. Banking shares were hard hit as the rate cuts are expected to take a toll on their margins. Saudi’s index was down 0.8%, with Samba Financial Group slumping 4.3% to its lowest level since Jan. 2, after it became the first lender to report a fall in second-quarter profit, which dived nearly 25% as operating expenses mounted.

Al Rajhi Bank, which earlier gained on robust earnings, fell 1.7%. Analysts expect rate cuts to hurt the margins of Saudi banks, which made record profits of around 50 billion riyals ($13.3 bln) in 2018 following several interest hikes over the past few years.

Elsewhere Saudi’s biggest petrochemical maker Saudi Basic Industries Co was down 0.9% after earlier this week reporting its lowest quarterly profit since late 2009. In Abu Dhabi, the index dropped 1.7% in its biggest single-day loss since midMay, dragged down by a 1.8% fall in the market heavyweight First Abu Dhabi Bank, and a 1% fall in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. ADCB earlier this week reported an 11% drop in second-quarter profit in its first combined pro-forma financials after it merged with Union National Bank and Al- Hilal Bank earlier this year. Qatar’s index was down 1% as the Gulf’s biggest lender Qatar National Bank shed 1% and Qatar Islamic Bank lost 2%. Dubai’s index was fell 0.6%, with Emirates NBD Bank slipping 0.4%.

Property shares dragged the index the most. Blue-chip developer Emaar Properties traded 1.5% lower after surging in recent sessions following a large deal in China. Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index defied the downward trend and closed 0.9% higher. Its largest lender Commercial International Bank acted as the biggest boost for the index, rising 2.3%.

Saudi Arabia

The index was down 0.8% to 8,666 points

Abu Dhabi

The index lost 1.7 % to 5,230 points

Dubai

The index fell 0.6% to 2,900 points

Qatar

The index dropped 1% to 10,398 points

Egypt

The index rose 0.9% to 13,526 points

Bahrain

The index was up 0.1% to 1,550 points

Oman

The index was up 0.4% to 3,777 points

Kuwait

The index edged up 0.1% to 6,754 points