GCC index declines 4.7% as new COVID variant spooks investors

GCC index declines 4.7% as new COVID variant spooks investors

KUWAIT: GCC markets declined for the first time in 13 months in November-2021 as the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, sent shockwaves across financial markets globally. The MSCI GCC index dropped 4.7 percent during the month, in line with most major exchanges globally. In terms of market-cap, total value of listed stocks in the region declined by $205 billion to reach $3.5 trillion by the end of the month. The monthly decline during November-2021 dented the performance of GCC markets since the start of the year which now stands at 29.7 percent.

Within the GCC, Abu Dhabi and Dubai exchanges remained largely resilient to the global pressure, although even these markets were not spared on 28-November-2021, which saw steep global single day sell-off, with declines of 1.8 percent and 5.2 percent. Most GCC markets reported a decline during November-2021, barring ADX and DFM that reported a gain of 8.7 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively. Saudi Arabia’s TASI reported the biggest decline of 8.1 percent losing almost $240.3 billion in market-cap during the month.

The decline highlighted the impact of the slide in oil prices to below $70/b mark, although briefly. The month also saw Abu Dhabi further strengthening its global lead in terms