Stock markets across the Middle East have rallied this past week as a result of optimism surrounding the ongoing coronavirus vaccine rollouts taking place across several nations in the region.
The front runner is the United Arab Emirates, while indexes in Israel and Oman have also increased significantly thanks to mass vaccine rollouts in those respective countries. The poorest performer in the region was The Tadawul All Share Index in Riyadh, while markets in Bahrain and Kuwait were closed for public holidays.
Much of these emergency rollouts were due to a massive surge of COVID-19 cases in the UAE—a reported 1,590 to be exact. Pfizer, BioNTech, and China National Biotec Group’s vaccines were apparently the ones permitted for use.
Harshjit Oza, the head of research at International Securities in Abu Dhabi, expressed confidence in UAE markets heading into the new year: “The UAE looks attractive from a valuation standpoint, offering better risk-reward compared to other emerging markets,” Oza explained.
Major factors that are expected to sustainably bolster the UAE economy include the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, recovering oil prices, and an improved geopolitical environment thanks to the peace deal with Israel.
