Business
Most Gulf markets dip as Trump-Putin talks fell short; Saudi gains
Most Gulf markets dip as Trump-Putin talks fell short; Saudi gains
About this update from Al Rajhi Bank
By Ateeq Shariff Most stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Sunday as high-stakes talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to produce an agreement to resolve the Ukraine conflict.The highly anticipated Alaska summit yielded no agreement to end or pause the war in Ukraine, failing to remove major uncertainties for oil-reliant economies in the Middle East.In Qatar, the index QSE:GNRI fell 0.5%, hit by a 1.2% fall in the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank QSE:QNBK. Leading stock indexes in Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait also ended lower.Saudi Arabia's benchmark index TADAWUL:TASI, however, gained 0.6%, helped by a 0.4% rise in Al Rajhi Bank TADAWUL:1120 and a 5.2% increase in Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development TADAWUL:4300.Elsewhere, oil giant Saudi Aramco TADAWUL:2222 added 0.4%.Aramco signed an $11 billion rent and leaseback agreement involving its Jafurah gas processing facilities with a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), part of BlackRock, it said on Thursday.Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index EGX:EGX30 advanced 1.1%, with Commercial International Bank EGX:COMI gaining 1.7%.Egypt registered a record primary surplus of 629 billion Egyptian pounds ($13 billion) in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, equal to 3.6% of the country's gross domestic product, the presidency said in a statement on Saturday.The primary surplus came 80% above that in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. SAUDI ARABIATADAWUL:TASI rose 0.6% to 10,897QATARQSE:GNRI lost 0.5% to 11,588EGYPTEGX:EGX30 up 1.1% to 35,973BAHRAINBAHRAIN:BHBX eased 0.6% to 1,935OMAN(.MSX30) lost 0.2% to 4,921KUWAIT(.BKP) fell 0.1% to 9,353($1 = 48.2700 Egyptian pounds)