Russia-Ukraine conflict: Oil is closing in on $120/barrel and that will please UAE, Gulf investors

Russia-Ukraine conflict: Oil is closing in on $120/barrel and that will please UAE, Gulf investors

Dubai: Oil prices are inching closer to $120 a barrel as markets fixate on whether there will be enough supply coming to feed demand. That, however, did not prevent nearly all the major Asian stock markets starting positive after yesterday’s heavy declines, with India’s Sensex up by nearly 100 points by 9.30am UAE time. The Shanghai index did slip into the red, albeit marginally by 4 points. “The gains on the stock markets have more to do with the US Federal Reserve saying they will hike interest rates this month – but, maybe, not as much as they had planned,” said Vijay Valecha, Chief Investment Officer at Century Financial. (The Fed will meet mid-month to sign off on the first rate hike for some time now, with inflationary pressures becoming the biggest worry.) The DFM started out positive in the initial trading, while ADX slipped marginally. UAE and Gulf stock markets are likely to be in positive territory as investors keep looking at the oil prices - and what they are seeing is giving them a lot of cheer. The Saudi index slipped into negative on Wednesday, but most market watchers reckon this to be a blip. The UAE and