Mideast Stocks: Most major Gulf stock markets fall on hawkish Fed, Egypt extends rally

Mideast Stocks: Most major Gulf stock markets fall on hawkish Fed, Egypt extends rally

Most major Gulf stocks ended lower on Thursday after a hawkish message from minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's last meeting, while the Saudi bourse reversed early losses to close flat and the Egyptian index extended gains to a sixth day.

Minutes of the Fed's December meeting released overnight showed while officials agreed that the central bank should slow the pace of interest rate increases, they remained focused on curbing inflation.

Meanwhile, top oil exporter Saudi Arabia lowered the February official selling prices (OSPs) for the flagship Arab light crude it sells to Asia to plus $1.80 a barrel versus the Oman/Dubai average, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The price is $1.45 a barrel less than the January OSP.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index closed flat, as losses in energy and financial shares were capped by gains in real estate stocks. Index heavyweight Saudi Aramco slipped 0.5% while developer Retal Urban Development Company gained nearly 1%.

In Abu Dhabi, the benchmark index declined 0.3%, as the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank eased 0.6% while fertiliser maker Fertiglobe tumbled 2.4%. Alpha Dhabi and Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment plan to deploy up to 9 billion dirhams