Sunday, January 17, 2016

Stock markets tumble in the Middle East...

From the Daily Mail:

  • Middle Eastern stock markets nosedived following sharp decline in oil
  • All seven of the Gulf states saw their markets take a dramatic tumble
  • Comes after sanctions against Iran were lifted so market is flooded with oil
Stock markets across the Middle East have taken a dramatic tumble as a lifting of sanctions in Iran means the sector has suddenly been swamped with oil.  

Share prices in all seven of the energy-rich Gulf states nosedived today following the sharp decline in oil prices as Iran prepares to resume crude exports after the lifting of sanctions.

London shares are braced for a second wave of crisis to hit when they open tomorrow morning after contagion from China sent the FTSE 100 to its worst start in history last week.

The plunge in the first day of trading in the Muslim week also follows heavy losses in global stock markets on Friday, when Gulf exchanges were closed for the weekend.

The price of oil, which contributes more than 80 per cent to Gulf states' revenues, shed more than 20 per cent this year to drop below $30 a barrel. 

This follows a plunge of 65 per cent in the past two years.
The expected return of Iran to the oil market, following the implementation on Saturday of its historic nuclear deal with world powers, will only worsen the production glut that has been the main reason for the oil price dive.
All seven Gulf stock markets saw a wave of panic selling, sending indices to multi-year lows as big investors joined small dealers in dumping shares in fear of a further slump.

'The majority of Gulf firms depend on their governments, which depend on oil revenues. No one knows the bottom of oil prices,' Kuwaiti analyst Ali al-Nemish said. 'The Iranian impact on the markets appears to be somewhat inflated because Iranian crude exports will not be huge initially.'
The stock markets of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi have already lost more in the past two weeks than they dropped in the whole of 2015....MORE
The Kuwait Times says:
Gulf shares plunge after oil rout, Iran deal

Qatar's The Peninsula isn't as equinanimous:
Qatar stocks plunge to multi-year lows on panic