By: Mahmoud Gamal

Mubasher: The GCC stock markets are expected to see a sideways-to-bearish performance on Thursday, in line with the US Fed’s vote on 14 June to raise interest rates and volatile global stocks, analysts told Mubasher.

The US Fed voted to raise interest rates by another quarter-point to between 1 and 1.25%.

The interest rate rise will have a negative impact on the GCC bourses, pushing traders to decrease their positions, according to Ibrahim Al Failakawi, an analyst at the Progress Center for Studies.

Trading volumes declined by around 50% on Wednesday, Al Failakawi added, while traders are focusing on speculative stocks of medium-sized companies.

Short-term local investors are the main players in the Gulf markets amid a decline in foreign purchases following the rise of US interest rates, the analyst added.

The markets are expected to witness heavy sales on Thursday to make use of the stocks’ gains seen early this week, financial analyst Mohannad Diack said.

The banks stocks are expected to continue their rise as the interest rate hike is expected to improve banks’ operational performance, Diack added.

Translated by: Julian Nabil