Business & Money | Sunday 18 September, 2016 4:59 pm |

The regional markets experienced a quiet week due to the EID holidays. With Egypt, UAE and Bahrain being the only markets opened last week, Egypt was down 2.6% with investors still waiting for any news regarding the IMF Loan and the devaluation of the EGP. Dubai and Abu Dhabi went down 1.05% and 0.4% respectively as both witnessed selling pressures in the real estate sector stocks. Bahrain was up by a marginal 0.4%.

On the global front, anticipation and attention centres around the Fed’s meeting next week but the uncertainty is causing a negative effect on global markets with both US and European markets closing in the red last week. Oil weakened again but remains above the USD45 mark. The downward movement was on the back of surplus concerns given that Iran raised its crude exports near pre-sanctions levels of more than 2 million bpd in August and Libya and Nigeria resumed oil shipments and loo ked to boost exports lost due to internal conflicts. 

The coming week carries numerous negative connotations for the regional markets with volatility expected to creep in.