Review: In November, GCC equity markets hit highest level since February 2020

Review: In November, GCC equity markets hit highest level since February 2020

In terms of YTD-2020 performance, Saudi Arabia was the only market in the GCC that was in the green at 4.3 percent, while the rest of the GCC markets continued to report declines. Trading activity for the GCC exchanges reached a five-month high of $84.6 billion during the month.Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia's Tadawul exchange witnessed the biggest monthly gain during November-2020 amid a broad-based rally.The benchmark closed at 8,747.1 points with a monthly gain of 10.6 percent, the biggest monthly gain since December 2016. The gains also pushed YTD-2020 returns into the green with a gain of 4.3 percent and Saudi Arabia was the only market in the GCC to record growth since the start of the year.Gains in Saudi Arabia during November closely reflected the rally in global markets as well as the 27 percent gain in oil prices during the month. Oil prices benefitted from vaccine hopes that can potentially result in higher demand for crude in the near term as well as a likely extension to the OPEC+ pact with a delay in tapering of existing cuts, the Kuwait based financial services company said in its report.The monthly sector performance chart showed gains for all the sectors on