Gulf markets mixed as investors await US Fed decision

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Gulf equities put in a mixed performance in early trade on Tuesday as higher oil prices lent some support, but investors stayed cautious ahead of a highly anticipated monetary policy verdict by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday.Markets have fully priced in a quarter-point rate cut from the Fed to 4.00%–4.25%, with investors closely watching policymakers' updated "dot plot" and guidance from Chair Jerome Powell.The Fed's stance carries heavy clout in the Gulf, where most currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar, anchoring regional monetary policy.Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index TADAWUL:TASI edged up 0.1%, bouncing back from a nearly two-year low reached in the previous session, supported by gains in consumer discretionary and utilities shares.Crude - a key driver of Gulf economies - rose to $67.52 a barrel by 0632 GMT, underpinned by disruption risks from Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities.Fawaz Abdulaziz Al Hokair & Co TADAWUL:4240 surged 10%, extending gains from the previous session, after the company appointed a new chairman.Dubai's main share index DFM:DFMGI was flat in choppy trade as a more than 3% slump in telecom monopoly Emirates Integrated Telecommunications, better known as "du" DFM:DU, tempered gains in real estate and industrial stocks.du's shareholder, Mamoura Diversified Global Holding, sold a 7.55% stake in the company for 3.15 billion dirhams ($858 million) through a secondary share sale.Real estate heavyweight Emaar Properties DFM:EMAAR edged up 0.7%. Toll operator Salik DFM:SALIK added 0.6%.However, Deyaar Development DFM:DEYAAR slipped 1% following the appointment of a new chief financial officer.In Abu Dhabi, the benchmark index ADX:FADGI rose 0.3%, poised for a fourth consecutive session of gains, led by a nearly 1% rise in ADNOC Drilling ADX:ADNOCDRILL.Space42 and U.S.-based Viasat NASDAQ:VSAT announced plans to establish Equatys, a joint venture aimed at enabling global Direct-to-Device (D2D) services.Qatar's stock index QSE:GNRI rebounded 0.4%, with all sectors in positive territory, supported by a 0.5% increase in Qatar National Bank QSE:QNBK, the region's largest lender.Separately, QNB Group, Standard Chartered, and DMZ Finance launched the "QCD Money Market Fund", the first tokenized money market fund within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

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