BAHRAIN All Share Index closed at 2,050.05 points yesterday, marking an increase of 2.59 points above the previous closing.
This increase was due to the rise in the consumer discretionary sector, industrial sector, material sector and consumer staples sector.
Bahrain lslamic Index has closed at 1,000.13 points, marking a decrease of 2.31 points below the previous closing.
Results indicated that 98 equity transactions took place with a volume of 16,099,936 worth BD3,627,167.
Investors traded mainly in the financial sector representing 90.56 per cent of the total value of securities traded.
Most Gulf stock markets remained subdued yesterday, weighed down by lower oil prices, as investors awaited key US economic data for clearer signals on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate trajectory.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index eased 0.1pc, falling for a third consecutive session, with Al Rajhi Bank falling 0.4pc. In Qatar, the index reversed early losses to finish 0.5pc higher, led by a 1.6pc rise in Qatar Islamic Bank.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index eased 0.2pc, with Telecom Egypt retreating 2.6pc. Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets were closed for a public holiday.
Meanwhile, global shares rose yesterday and both cryptocurrencies and global government bonds stabilised after the previous day’s selloff triggered by a looming interest rate hike in Japan.
Wall Street stocks were advancing after losing ground in the prior session. Technology and industrial shares were driving gains, while energy and consumer staples were leading losses.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.16pc, the S&P 500 rose 0.26pc and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.69pc.
The broad stock indexes in Europe edged higher by 0.02pc and Asia-ex Japan gained 0.45pc.
“A simple way to think about this is from the lens of inflation, monetary policy and fundamentals,” said Talley Leger, chief market strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group.
“On the inflation side, I’m not so concerned because it’s below average back to early 1900s and I think that in turn gives the Fed scope to keep cutting rates – which is the market expectation being priced in now. You can add to that strong fundamentals in form of record holiday shopping and strong (corporate) earnings,” Leger added.
Data on Monday supported expectations for a December rate cut by the Fed, with manufacturing contracting for a ninth straight month in November – though consumers did beat analyst expectations with a $23.6 billion online shopping spree to kick off the holiday season.
The MSCI World index of stocks across the globe rose 0.21pc.
More calm in the Japanese government bond market after a strong auction of Japanese government bonds helped the global mood. Japanese 10-year yields were down 0.27pc and 30-year yields were lower by six basis points.
Bond yields move inversely to prices, and a weeks-long tumble in JGBs on concerns about the nation’s finances and expected rate hikes from the Bank of Japan has sent 10-year yields to a 17-year peak and 30-year yields to an all-time high.
Yesterday, global bonds again took their cue from JGBs, but this time echoed their calm – the US 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.104pc and the benchmark 10-year German yield was at 2.755pc, both up marginally on the day.
Bitcoin, which some see as a possible leading indicator for risk assets, inched higher yesterday after a 5.2pc slump on Monday. At $87,000, it is down 30pc from an October peak. “Things are pretty stable currently, we’re closing this year, with few – touching wood – negative surprises,” said Samy Chaar, chief economist at Lombard Odier.
“Yesterday was mainly a non-event except for crypto assets. We’ve had a huge rout in bitcoin (over the past few weeks), and frankly the impact on global markets has been limited.”
In currency markets the Japanese yen softened, with the dollar up 0.35pc at 155.96 yen, and the euro up by a similar amount.
The dollar was also steady more broadly yesterday, after its softness on Monday helped hoist the euro briefly above $1.165. The common currency last traded at $1.16107.
Gold retreated 1pc to $4,188.44 an ounce, but is still only around 4pc from October’s all-time peak. Silver shed 1pc.
Oil prices fell slightly as traders weighed up risks from Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy sites and concerns about oversupply. Brent crude futures were down 0.08pc to $63.12 a barrel. US crude futures were lower by 0.08pc at $59.27 a barrel.
&uuid=(email))