1

1

E-mail Article

Printer Friendly

Share Article

GCC stock markets see gains for sixth month running

Stock markets in the GCC recorded advances for the sixth month running in August, new data from the Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) published on Monday revealed.

After gaining by 3 percent in July, the GCC markets continued their positive streak with a return of 2.3 percent in August, Markaz said.
The returns in August marked the sixth consecutive month of positive gains in 2009.

Oman gained the highest with a return of 9 percent, closely followed by Kuwait with a return of 8 percent.

Bahrain was the only market in the GCC which continued to lag behind in terms of year-to-date returns both in comparison to other GCC countries and also in comparison to other markets across the world. Bahrain’s 2009 performance has so far been at -19 percent.

With the rise in August, the GCC markets - which were available at a discount to emerging market peers until July - are now valued at more than the emerging market peers, Markaz noted.

The value traded in the GCC stock markets continued to be low with August posting a total value traded of $37bn, which was 6% down on July and a 22 percent decline compared to the same month in 2008.

No Comments