RIYADH: The Gulf Cooperation Council’s stock markets witnessed an improvement in the six-month period ending June 30.
The improvement was reported in terms of market value and growth rate, with the Saudi bourse being the biggest contributor.
Having witnessed a mixed performance throughout the year, key equity markets in the Gulf region recorded massive gains in the first half of 2021 despite the impact of the pandemic-induced lockdowns and other restrictions.
The rebound of the pandemic-hit stock markets was mainly attributed to government measures to limit the impact of the global health crisis and improving oil market.
The market value of the GCC surged 2.6 percent from around $3.1 trillion to $3.4 trillion for the six-month period ending June 30.
The Saudi stock exchange accounted for the majority of this market value, making up 76.4 percent, while Abu Dhabi’s exchange came next with a share of 9.4 percent. Qatar and Kuwait bourses held shares that amounted to 5 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.
The other three Gulf stock markets made up 5.5 percent as a single group.
In the first six months of 2021, market forces led the growth rate of the composite index of GCC stock exchanges to reach 24.9 percent, in contrast to just 2 percent in 2020.
The overall positive performance was mostly driven by Abu Dhabi and Saudi bourses, growing at rates of 35.5 percent and 26.4 percent, respectively, in the corresponding period.
Some 26 listed companies in the Saudi stock exchange rebounded from a nine-month 2020 net loss to profit this year, thanks to the recovery of markets hit by diminished economic growth and wrecked supply chains caused by the pandemic.
With improved companies’ performance, Tadawul’s main index TASI soared 26.89 percent and parallel market Nomu rose 18.48 percent in the one-year period ending Dec.13.
