Against the backdrop of mounting concerns about the supply of crude oil, as European Union considers a possible ban on Russian oil imports, the stock markets in Saudi Arabia and the UAE remained subdued this week.
The Saudi Tadawul stock exchange ended the week with a loss, after a three-week period of considerable gains in the month of April.
Aramex’s stock helped the Dubai index end the week with high results, while crude oil prices dragged down the gains in Abu Dhabi, which were only marginal.
Variations in the Saudi index
The Saudi index gained ground on Sunday (April 17, 2022) in response to the recent surge in crude oil prices. Al-Rajhi Bank’s 3.6 percent surge was the driving force behind “TASI’s” 0.5 percent gain in the ninth of ten trading sessions.
The financial and health sectors helped push the index up by 0.4 percent on Monday (April 18, 2022) to round out its winning streak.
On Tuesday (April 19, 2022), the Saudi index plummeted 1.1 percent, the highest percentage fall since February 24. However, with Aramco’s shares jumping by 2.1 percent on Wednesday (April 20, 2022), TASI gained 1.2 percent.
In the first 11 sessions of the month, the main index of the Saudi Stock Exchange gained almost 4 percent, with 11 of the 15 sessions ending in positive territory. However, on Thursday (April 21, 2022), it declined by 1 percent.
Abu Dhabi index compensated for its losses
The Abu Dhabi index closed down 0.3 percent on Monday (April 18, 2022) and 0.4 percent on Tuesday (April 19, 2022).
On the other hand, it rose 0.8 percent on Wednesday (April 20, 2022) and 1.2 percent on Thursday (April 21, 2022), recording the best daily performance in more than two weeks.
As for Friday (April 22, 2022), the index compensated for the losses incurred at the beginning of trading to close 0.2 percent higher.
Dubai index reached outstanding performance
Dubai Main index ended a three-day rise Monday (April 18, 2022) with a 0.4 percent decline. Still, it rebounded on Tuesday (April 19, 2022) with a 1.6 percent gain, its most extraordinary single-day performance since March 28.
The Dubai Stock Exchange lost the gains it made earlier to close stable on Wednesday (April 20, 2022). The main stock index in Dubai rose for the third consecutive session Thursday (April 21, 2022), but it trimmed its gains during the session to close trading at an increase of 0.4 percent.
The leading Dubai market index rose 0.6 percent on Friday (April 22, 2022) and ended the week with a 2 percent increase, its fifth consecutive weekly gain. Aramex shares rose 4.7 percent after the company said its board of directors would meet next week to vote on increasing foreign ownership to 100 percent.