Most Gulf stock markets inched up in early trade on Tuesday, buoyed by firmer oil prices and growing bets of a U.S. rate cut later this month.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index TADAWUL:TASI edged up 0.1% in choppy trade as stronger oil prices lent support to the oil-sensitive bourse.
Index heavyweights Saudi Arabian Mining TADAWUL:1211 and the oil behemoth Saudi Aramco TADAWUL:2222 advanced 1.3% and 0.1%, respectively.
Oil - a key catalyst for Gulf markets - rose after OPEC+ announced plans to increase output by less than market participants had anticipated, boosting sentiment across the region.
In the UAE, Dubai's main index DFM:DFMGI added 0.1%, helped by a 0.6% rise in Emirates NBD Bank DFM:EMIRATESNBD.
Abu Dhabi index ADX:FADGI was also up 0.1%, with modest gains in heavyweight stocks helping to partially reverse a recent pullback.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank rose 0.9%, rebounding from a 7.5% plunge in the previous session — its steepest single-day drop in over three years — after announcing a 6.1 billion dirhams rights issue priced at a 30% discount.
In contrast, Qatar's benchmark index QSE:GNRI fell 0.2%, pressured by losses in financials. Qatar National Bank QSE:QNBK, the region’s largest lender, declined nearly 1%.
Investors continue to keep a close watch on the Fed, with traders fully pricing in a 25-basis-point rate cut and assigning a 10% probability to a jumbo 50-bp cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
The Fed's stance carries heavy clout in the Gulf, where most currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar, anchoring regional monetary policy.