By Ateeq Shariff
May 7 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Gulf closed lower on Wednesday following a string of lacklustre corporate earnings, while focus was also on U.S.-China trade negotiations and the Federal Reserve's policy decision.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index .TASI fell 0.3%, weighed down by a 1% fall in Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE and an 8.3% plunge in Mobile Telecommunications Company 7030.SE. The telecom firm missed analysts' first-quarter profit estimates.
Savola Group Company 2050.SE tumbled more than 7%, following a sharp decline in quarterly profit.
Elsewhere, Leejam Sports Company 1830.SE dived 10% - to its daily maximum limit - after reporting about a 25% drop in first-quarter profit.
Dubai's main share index .DFMGI declined 0.3%, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties EMAR.DU losing 1.5%.
In Abu Dhabi, the index .FTFADGI eased 0.1%.
The Fed will announce its policy decision later in the day. Expectations for cuts were dialled down after relatively solid U.S. labour data last week.
Markets imply nearly no chance of a move on Wednesday and only a 33% chance of a cut in June, down from 64% a month ago.
The Fed's decision affects monetary policy in the Gulf where most currencies, including the Saudi riyal, are pegged to the U.S. dollar.
The Qatari index .QSI was down 0.1%, with Qatar Islamic Bank QISB.QA losing 1.4%.
Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer will meet China's economic tsar He Lifeng in Switzerland this weekend for talks that could be the first step toward resolving a trade war disrupting the global economy.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index .EGX30 declined 1.4%, as most of its constituents were in negative territory, including Commercial International Bank COMI.CA, which was down 2.3%.
Egypt's non-oil private sector economy contracted further in April after a decline in domestic and foreign demand caused new orders and output to fall for a second month, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
SAUDI ARABIA | .TASI fell 0.3% to 11,399 |
Abu Dhabi | .FTFADGI down 0.1% to 9,611 |
Dubai | .DFMGI lost 0.3% to 5,338 |
QATAR | .QSI eased 0.1% to 10,479 |
EGYPT | .EGX30 down 1.4% to 31,840 |
BAHRAIN | .BAX added 0.2% to 1,912 |
OMAN | .MSX30 rose 0.3% to 4,353 |
KUWAIT | .BKP added 0.4% to 8,666 |
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))
免责声明：投资有风险，本文并非投资建议，以上内容不应被视为任何金融产品的购买或出售要约、建议或邀请，作者或其他用户的任何相关讨论、评论或帖子也不应被视为此类内容。本文仅供一般参考，不考虑您的个人投资目标、财务状况或需求。TTM对信息的准确性和完整性不承担任何责任或保证，投资者应自行研究并在投资前寻求专业建议。