Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf bourses fall after Fed warning

Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf bourses fall after Fed warning

Most Gulf stock markets ended lower on Monday after a top U.S. central banker warned investors not to get carried away over one inflation number, while falling oil prices compounded concerns.

The U.S. Federal Reserve may consider slowing the pace of rate increases at its next meeting, but that should not be seen as a "softening" of its battle against inflation, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Sunday.

Most Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have their currencies pegged to the dollar and generally follow the Fed's policy moves, exposing the region to a direct impact from monetary tightening there.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index fell 0.4%, hit by a 3% slide in the country's biggest lender Saudi National Bank (SNB).

SNB rose 2.9% in the previous session after saying it had not come across any information that might raise concerns over the governance of Credit Suisse and was supportive of the transformation plan announced by the bank on Oct. 27.

The lender has agreed to invest 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.59 billion) in the Swiss bank and is set to take a stake of up to 9.9%. Since the October announcement, SNB has lost 39.94 billion riyals ($10.63 billion)