Kuwaiti investors sit in the arena of the Kuwait Bourse (Stock Exchange) floor in Kuwait City, Kuwait, January 8,2020. REUTERS/Stephanie McGehee Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Dec 7 (Reuters) – Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Sunday, buoyed by growing expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut next week.
Investors absorbed the latest U.S. inflation data and adjusted their bets, strengthening expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut at the December 9-10 policy meeting.
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U.S. consumer spending rose only modestly in September, following three months of robust growth, pointing to waning economic momentum late in the third quarter as a sluggish job market and elevated living costs restrained household demand.
Traders are now assigning an 87% probability, based on CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, to a 25-basis-point rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index
edged 0.1% higher, helped by a 2.6% rise in Riyad Bank
.
Oil prices rose nearly 1% on Friday to a two-week high, supported by expectations of a U.S. rate cut next week and geopolitical risks that could curb supplies from Russia and Venezuela.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index
gained 0.6%, with Beltone Financial Holding
advancing 6.9%.
Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru, Editing by Louise Heavens
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