The Gulf’s trading floors opened the day in a half-step—one foot tapping to the rhythm of U.S. rate-cut whispers, the other planted firmly in local crosswinds.
Hints from Washington have once again set the region’s pulse. A senior Fed official signaled that the U.S. job market has softened enough to make a December trim in borrowing costs plausible. Another policymaker chimed in days earlier with talk of rates heading lower “soon.” With that double-dose of dovishness, traders now wager heavily on a December cut—odds leaping from last week’s cautious murmur to a confident chorus.
Because Gulf currencies shadow the dollar, every tremor in U.S. policy rolls straight through regional markets.
Dubai was the day’s early bright spot, its headline index edging up 0.4%. Salik nudged higher, and Emaar added momentum with a solid climb of its own. The market’s mood found extra lift from Dubai’s newly approved three-year budget, a hefty plan anchored by strong projected revenues.
Abu Dhabi joined the green side of the board, rising 0.2%.
Saudi Arabia, however, leaned the other way. Its benchmark slipped 0.2% as heavyweight Aramco weakened and the local exchange operator faced sharper losses. Aramco’s reported exploration of multi-billion-dollar asset sales added another layer of intrigue, just as oil prices softened on fears of supply outpacing demand next year.
Qatar’s market also dipped, sliding 0.7%, with one of its major lenders ending lower.
Across the region, the story was the same: markets listening closely, waiting for December, and watching the world’s biggest central bank decide the tune for the months ahead.
