Mideast Stocks: Gulf bourses end mixed on earnings, focus on US-China talks

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Stock markets in the Gulf ended mixed on Thursday on corporate earnings announcements, while investors awaited the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks this weekend. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested China initiated the trade talks, adding he was not willing to cut U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods to get Beijing to negotiations.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the upcoming talks were a start, not 'advanced' discussions. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index dropped 0.3%, hit by a 1.4% fall in Saudi Arabian Mining Company and a 2.7% decrease in Etihad Etisalat Company. Elsewhere, Middle East Healthcare Company plunged about 9% - its biggest intraday fall in over a month - despite reporting a sharp rise in quarterly profit.

Dubai's main share index dropped 0.4%, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties retreating 1.1%. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but said risks of higher inflation and unemployment had risen, as its policymakers grapple with the impact of Trump's tariffs.

The Fed's decisions impact monetary policy in the Gulf, where most currencies, including dirhams, are pegged to the U.S. dollar. The United Arab Emirates Central Bank has maintained its base rate at 4.40%, keeping monetary policy steady. In Abu Dhabi, the index added 0.2%, supported by a 1.9% rise in ADNOC Drilling Company, a day after reporting a 25% jump in first-quarter profit.

Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - rose over 1%, buoyed by hopes of a breakthrough in looming trade talks between the United States and China, the world's two largest oil consumers. The Qatari index finished 0.4% higher, with the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank gaining 0.4%.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index eased 0.2%.

Egypt's headline inflation is expected to have edged up in April, boosted in part by an increase in fuel prices early in the month, a Reuters poll found.