GCC Investment

Defensive sectors in GCC-A great bet in today’s times

The 2020 stock market crash due to Covid-19 has been fast and short, if the markets do not fall to the lows of March 2020 again. The Oil price crash and social distancing measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 has impacted sectors in the GCC in different ways.This can be observed in the current level of GCC Sector Indices. We make a comparison of the current levels of GCC sector indices with that of 52-week high and 52-week lowto...

Fund houses revise their long-term capital market expectations – What has changed?

The unprecedented turn of events in recent times has drastically changed the outlook of the global economy in the near term. The economic disruption caused by COVID-19 has triggered global central banks and governments to act, changing the whole landscape for financial and real assets both in the short and long term. Things look much different now as compared to the end of 2019. Several asset classes witnessed a sharp sell-off and a subsequent recovery in recent months. Everything from...

Foreign investment in GCC equity markets – Will the inflow levels sustain after index inclusions?

GCC countries are in the process of opening their economies to make them more attractive to foreign investors. The inflow of foreign funds through FDI would augur well for diversification of these economies away from oil to reduce their large oil dependence more so because its markets are cyclical and volatile. Attracting investments in non-oil sectors through equity markets is also one of the means to achieve this goal. Foreign equity inflows into GCC capital markets is expected to rise...