Major stock markets in the Middle East rebounded on Sunday, joining the global market rally at the end of last week as investors took solace in the bounce-back in crude oil prices.
Brent surged 10% to $32.18 a barrel on Friday, as bearish traders who had taken out record short positions scrambled to close them, Reuters reported.
The benchmark S&P 500 US equity index rallied 2% and registered its first positive week of 2016 and the MSCI All Country World Index rose 2.7%.
Saudi Arabia’s index rebounded 2.7% to 5,612 points, but is 222 points off its session high. The rally lost some steam in later trade as investors turned a quick profit and cashed out, proving they lacked conviction that equities have turned a corner.
“This is a typical oil tracking rally,” said Santhosh Balakrishnan, senior research analyst at Riyad Capital. Markets are still in a wait-and-see phase, and a firm comeback will only transpire once crude prices stabilize, he added.
The majority of petrochemical stocks, which have been battered by weakness in oil prices since the start of the year, recovered and the sub-sector index climbed 2.6%.
Saudi Basic Industries, the largest petrochemical firm, traded up 3.2% to 63.92 riyals ($17.04) after touching a high of 67.25 riyals per share.
Dubai’s index rebounded 5.2% to 2,757 points, pulling away from a 28-month low on Thursday. The majority of shares jumped more than 2% in the largest volume of trades this year.
Arabtec rocketed 10%, trimming its year-to-date losses to 3.2%. Emaar Properties also enjoyed an 8% surge.
Abu Dhabi’s benchmark jumped 4.3% to 3,839 points from a 28-month low on Thursday, trimming its losses to 10.9% this year.
In Qatar, the exchange jumped 4.6% as the majority of shares surged more than 3%.
In Cairo, the main index traded up 3.2%, bouncing back from a 28-month low close on Thursday.
Non-Egyptian Arab traders were net buyers, bourse data showed, while foreign managers and Egyptians were net sellers.
