Bahrain All Share Index closed at 1,971.48 points yesterday, marking an increase of 0.52 points above the previous closing.

This increase was due to the rise in the financial sector and the consumer staples sector.

Bahrain Islamic Index closed at 9,40.73 points, marking an increase of 0.67 points above the previous closing.

Results indicated that 103 equity transactions took place with a volume of 6,267,187 worth BD1,372,535.

Investors traded mainly in the financial sector, representing 86.61 per cent of the total value of securities traded.

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index extended its rally for a third straight session yesterday, gaining 86.23 points, or 0.74pc, to close at 11,682.23.

The benchmark index recorded a total trading turnover of 6.68 billion Saudi riyals ($1.78n), with 134 stocks advancing and 118 declining.

The kingdom’s parallel market, Nomu, slipped 51.99 points to 25,637.29, while the MSCI Tadawul Index edged up 0.61pc to 1,519.64.

Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company led the gainers, climbing 8.38pc. ACWA Power rose 6.03pc, while Tabuk Cement Company advanced 5.93pc.

On the downside, Thob Al Aseel Company fell 6.15pc.

Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s dovish comments improved global investor sentiment, even as soft oil prices amid a supply surplus and US-China trade tensions capped gains.

Powell signalled potential additional rate cuts and said the end of the central bank’s long-running effort to shrink the size of its holdings may be coming into view. His comments, viewed by some as dovish, lifted global markets slightly and reinforced expectations of more easing this year, with roughly 48 basis points worth of cuts priced in by December.

Dubai’s main share index added 0.1pc, helped by a 0.7pc rise in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties. In Abu Dhabi, the index closed 0.1pc higher.

Oil prices – a catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets – steadied after closing at five-month lows in the previous session, as investors weighed the International Energy Agency’s prediction of a supply surplus in 2026 and trade tensions between the US and China that could curtail demand.

The Qatari index dropped 0.5pc, with Qatar Islamic Bank losing 1.2pc. Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index rose 0.5pc, with Commercial International Bank advancing 1.4pc.

Egypt has a plan for the drilling of 480 exploratory oil wells on the basis of investments totalling $5.7bn over the next five years, the country’s petroleum minister said, as the country seeks to reverse declining production.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 287.60 points, or 0.62pc, to 46,556.15, the S&P 500 gained 65.66 points, or 0.99pc, to 6,709.97 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 289.88 points, or 1.29pc, to 22,811.34.

European stocks rose as upbeat results from France’s LVMH sparked a rally in luxury goods, soothing worries that slowing global economic growth and ongoing tariff wars are dampening corporate health.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 11.21 points, or 1.15pc, to 989.53.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.62pc, while Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index added 14.36 points, or 0.64pc.

Emerging market stocks rose 26.58 points, or 1.99pc, to 1,365.56. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed higher by 2.04pc, to 708.93, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 825.35 points, or 1.76pc, to 47,672.67.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.21pc to 98.86, with the euro up 0.15pc at $1.1622.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.32pc to 151.32.

Oil prices advanced as investors weighed the International Energy Agency’s projected 2025 supply surplus against the ongoing trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.

US crude rose 0.26pc to $58.84 a barrel and Brent rose to $62.45 per barrel, up 0.1pc on the day.

Gold extended its record run, breached the $4,200 per oz level for the first time as the safe haven metal continued to benefit from geopolitical tensions.

Spot gold rose 1.3pc to $4,195.50 an ounce. US gold futures rose 1.48pc to $4,200.00 an ounce.

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