The majority of Middle Eastern stock markets enjoyed a modest rise as last week’s trading came to a close. This increase was largely fueled by rising crude oil prices as well as other gains in emerging markets.
Indexes across gulf nations Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, in addition to Abu Dhabi and Egypt, enjoyed rises of almost 1% on Sunday. A particular focus was on Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index, which rose for its sixth consecutive session.
Much of the investors’ confidence was restored thanks to the expectation that a coronavirus vaccine would be distributed as early as the start of 2021. This development is expected to speed up economic recovery. Another major driver was the OPEC+ ministerial gathering this week, which fueled rising oil prices.
Saudi Arabian markets also strengthened following an announcement by Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corp. stating that it had signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Germany-based biotech firm CureVac for the supply of coronavirus vaccine doses to Saudi Arabia. This resulted in a 5.5% rise in Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corp. stocks.
