Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Sunday in response to Friday’s gains for oil prices and global shares on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates less aggressively than previously anticipated.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index advanced 1.2%, having hit its lowest in six months in the previous session, led by a 0.2% gain in Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services. Crude prices, a key catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets, gained 2.5% after a U.S. official told Reuters that an immediate Saudi oil output boost was not expected and as investors question whether OPEC has the room to ramp up crude production.—Agencies