The Gulf financial markets index records its first gain in 4 months

The Gulf stock market index succeeded in recording its first gains in November 2023 in 4 months, after the general indices of all Gulf stock markets recorded growth during the month.

The Morgan Stanley Gulf Index rose by 5.2% in the month of November 2023, supported mainly by the sentiment of optimism that spread across global markets against the backdrop of expectations that interest rates have already reached their peak, and the possibility of central banks reducing interest rates next year, most likely within the middle of the year. Second of the year.

According to the report of the Investment Research and Strategies Unit at Kamco Investment Company, the Qatar Stock Exchange was the best performing stock exchange in the Gulf by recording a growth of 5.4%, followed by Saudi Arabia and Dubai with gains of 4.6% and 3%, respectively.

These monthly gains reduced the rate of decline in the performance of Gulf stock exchanges since the beginning of 2023 to date to 2.4%. 4 out of 7 Gulf indicators are still in the red zone.

Dubai, followed by Saudi Arabia, recorded notable gains from the beginning of this year to date, at 19.7% and 6.7%, respectively.

As for sectoral performance, almost all sectoral indices rose at the region level during the month of November 2023, with the exception of the insurance sector index, which declined marginally by 0.4%.

In terms of winning sectors, the pharmaceutical sector shares came in the lead, recording gains of 21.4%, followed by the long-term goods sector and health care sector indices, with gains of 14% and 11.7%, respectively.

As for sectors with large capitals, such as banks, they recorded notable gains of 6.6%, while gains in the energy and basic materials sector indices came at a relatively lower rate of 1.8% and 4.3%, respectively.

Globally, almost all major global markets recorded growth during the month and succeeded in achieving good gains.

The sentiment of optimism contributed to enhancing the performance of the Morgan Stanley Global Index, which reached its highest levels recorded in approximately 4 months with gains of 9.2%, which is the largest monthly increase recorded by the index in 3 years, and the index’s gains since the beginning of the year to date amounted to 16.2%.

US technology stocks were the best performers during the month. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 10.7% during the month, while the S&P Index rose 8.9%, and the Emerging Markets Index saw a good rise of 7.9% over the past month.