The Bahrain All Share Index closed at 1,932.75 yesterday, marking a decrease of 3.68 points from the previous day’s close. The Bahrain Islamic Index also saw a slight dip, closing at 907.71, down 0.11 points.
Investors traded a total of 1.68 million shares on the Bahrain Bourse, with a total value of BD672,820, executed through 77 transactions. The consumer staples sector was the most active, accounting for 40.54pc of the total trading value at BD272,760.
BMMI led the market in trading value, with its shares amounting to BD272,350, representing 40.48pc of the total trading value. The company traded BD716,710 shares across eight transactions.
Bahrain Duty Free Shop Complex came in second, with a trading value of BD156,180, accounting for 23.21pc of the total value. The company traded BD421,690 shares through 16 transactions.
Alba was the third most traded company by value, at BD102,310, making up 15.21pc of the total traded value. A total of 119,550 Alba shares were traded in 20 transactions.
Yesterday, a total of 14 companies had their shares traded. Share prices increased for two companies, decreased for four companies, and remained unchanged for the rest.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark stock index rebounded 0.9pc from a nearly two-year low in the previous session. Shares of Fawaz Abdulaziz Al Hokair surged 10pc after UAE-based Al Futtaim completed a 2.52 billion riyal acquisition of a 49.95pc stake in the retailer.
ADES Holding advanced 2.3pc after raising its offer to buy Oslo-listed rival Shelf Drilling, while oil giant Saudi Aramco gained 0.6pc.
Dubai’s main share index finished 0.7pc lower, ending a three-day winning streak, dragged down by financials. Dubai Islamic Bank fell nearly 4pc, while telecom monopoly Emirates Integrated Telecommunications, better known as “du”, declined 4.2pc after shareholder Mamoura Diversified Global Holding sold a 7.55pc stake via a secondary share offering worth 3.15bn dirhams ($858 million).
Abu Dhabi’s main index rose 0.3pc, marking fourth consecutive session of gains, led by energy shares. ADNOC Gas jumped nearly 2pc, while ADNOC Drilling surged more than 2.5pc. ADNOC Logistics climbed 2.2pc following the appointment of an interim chief financial officer.
Abu Dhabi’s flagship energy firm ADNOC said on Thursday it had transferred its stakes in several listed units, including ADNOC Distribution, ADNOC Drilling, ADNOC Gas, and ADNOC Logistics & Services, to its international investment arm, XRG.
Qatar’s stock index rebounded 0.2pc, with most sectors closing in positive territory, supported by a 0.8pc increase in Qatar National Bank, the region’s largest lender.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index slipped 0.9pc, halting a four-session advance as investors locked in profits from the recent rally, hit by a 1pc drop in Commercial International Bank. The pullback appears to be a brief pause, with the upward trend likely to resume as market fundamentals seem increasingly supportive, said Daniel Takieddine, co-founder and CEO of Sky Links Capital Group.
An index of world equity markets edged lower after hitting a record high yesterday ahead of the widely expected start of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cutting cycle, while US Treasury yields and the dollar fell.
MSCI’s all-country index was down 0.04pc after rising as far as 978.74, a record high. Wall Street stocks erased earlier session gains and were trading lower, with utilities and financials driving losses while energy and consumer discretionary shares were leading the gains. The Dow Industrial Average fell 0.38pc to 45,706.94, the S&P 500 fell 0.11pc to 6,607.70 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.02pc to 22,344.47.
The pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 0.83pc, led by declines in rate-sensitive banks and insurers, which stand to lose out if the European Central Bank does not cut euro zone rates much more.
“Today is more of a sideways move than anything else,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide. “It felt like yesterday where we had a little bit of a surge and today a little bit of a pullback. But the reality is this is all just waiting to see what happens tomorrow afternoon.”
The Fed is expected to cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to the 4.00pc-4.25pc range at the end of its monetary policy meeting today. The US Senate narrowly confirmed Stephen Miran to the central bank’s Board of Governors and a US appeals court separately declined to let President Donald Trump fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes was flat at 4.034pc. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 1.7 basis points to 3.518pc.
“You’ve had a really incredible run in the past couple of weeks: five out of the last six weeks positive ... record highs pretty much across the board. To me this is just a pause and a sideways, wait-and-see movement rather than a significant drop,” Hackett said.
Bets on Fed cuts have in turn kept pressure on the dollar, which yesterday fell to its lowest since July 4 against a basket of currencies.
The dollar weakened 0.58pc against the Japanese yen to 146.56 and fell 0.84pc to 0.788 against the Swiss franc .
The euro traded at its highest since September 2021 against the dollar. It was last up 0.72pc at $1.1844. Sterling climbed to its highest in more than two months at $1.3656.
The dollar index fell 0.59pc to 96.77.
Gold rose as the dollar weakened. Spot gold rose 0.29pc to $3,689.33 an ounce.
Oil prices rose as markets weighed a potential disruption of supplies from Russia due to Ukrainian drone attacks on its ports and refineries.
Brent crude futures were up 1pc at $68.16 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $64.24, up 1.42pc.
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