Oil Price

Kuwait stocks fell in November driven by sharp fall in oil prices

Kuwait, in line with the broader GCC market, ended the month in red, fuelled by sharp fall in oil prices. The growing fears over a new COVID-19 variant also led to profit taking at the end of the month. Market Performance & Key Metrics Source: Refinitiv, Boursa Kuwait All sectors, except Healthcare and Insurance, declined in November. Insurance was the top gainer, rising 7.6% followed by healthcare which recorded modest gains of 1.8%. Basic materials and Industrials sector indices registered...

Oil declines in November on concerns of lower demand owing to COVID-19 variant

Oil prices declined steeply in November, marking its largest monthly decline since March 2020. The fall follows the multi-year high prices posted by the commodity in October. Concerns over lower demand on account of new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, and expectation of increase in supply due to release of Strategic Petroleum Reserves by the U.S pressured prices during the month. Performance of Oil Source: Refinitiv U.S plans to release about 50 million barrels of oil from its reserves. China, Japan, India,...

Oil marches upward in October on supply concerns

Oil prices in October hovered over their highest since 2014, with demand pressures exceeding supply. Expectation of higher natural gas prices encouraging a switch to oil and continued relaxation of travel restrictions supported prices. Supply is also expected to be tighter with Saudi Arabia’s oil minister dismissing calls for a steeper increase in output. IEA expects current energy crunch to boost oil demand by 500,000 bpd. It estimates the resulting supply gap to be at 700,000 bpd until OPEC+ increases...

GCC markets gain in October on rise in oil prices and strong earnings

GCC markets were positive for the month of October strengthened by strong earnings and sustained increase in oil prices. S&P GCC composite index rose by 2.3%, with Kuwait, Qatar and Abu Dhabi leading the gainers. Saudi Arabia’s main index rose 1.8% in October and had reached 15-year highs during the month. Dubai gained the least among GCC markets at 0.7%. GCC Market Performance Source: Refinitiv Among the GCC blue chip companies, the best performer was Al Rajhi Bank (Saudi Arabia),...

Kuwait leads GCC markets in October

Kuwait was the best performing GCC market in October, supported by the rise in oil prices. The Boursa Kuwait All Share index registered gains for the eighth consecutive month, gaining 3.5% for the month and extended its yearly gains to 28.2%. Kuwait government had lifted precautionary restriction measures for COVID-19 from Oct 24, with certain conditions. Kuwait Market Performance Source: Refinitiv Among sectors, the Consumer Discretionary was the top gainer, rising 13.1% followed by Financial Services at 9.1%. Utilities sector...

What’s behind Kuwait’s increasing fiscal breakeven oil price?

For long, Kuwait’s fiscal breakeven oil price remained low and it had been a key strength for the economy. However, the situation is fast changing. Fiscal breakeven oil price can be defined simply as the oil price that balances an oil‐exporting country’s fiscal budget. Upon comparing a country’s fiscal breakeven oil price with the international oil price, one can gauge the fiscal health of the country. Lower fiscal breakeven oil price than the market price would lead to surplus and...

OPEC+ September 2021 meet: Maintaining Status Quo

Since the last OPEC+ meeting, conducted on July 18th, the global oil market has witnessed some significant events. There has been a surge in covid cases due to the new delta variant, causing government restrictions in key demand centers of the world, subsequently putting pressure on the global oil demand and prices. In the week ending 20th August, oil brent price witnessed its worst weekly drop of 8% landing at $65.18 bbl, its lowest since April’21. On the supply end...

Could Delta variant play spoilsport for Oil prices?

The Delta variant, which the WHO has called the most transmissible variant of the coronavirus, has caused a surge in covid-19 cases around the world. With a rise in cases, comes a rise in restrictions by the governments to curb the transmission. Travel restrictions in different parts of the world, is set to exert downward pressure on the global jet fuel demand. During the week ending 20th August, Brent crude oil price witnessed its biggest weekly loss this year of...

Oil revenues & private sector growth to speed up GCC economic recovery in 2022

As the world charts its recovery from COVID-19’s impact, businesses and trade around the world begin to hit normalcy, reviving the global demand for oil and consequently the global oil prices. As of August’21, price of IPE Brent is up nearly 41% year to date. OPEC+ is firm on its stance of cutting oil production until mid-2022, this is set to support global oil prices and provide renewed vigour for GCC economies. According to Institute of International Finance (IIF), the...

GCC Stock Markets – Positive earnings growth strengthen business optimism

According to our recently released Monthly Market Review for the month of August, GCC equity market gained by 3.6%. At country level, all GCC markets except Oman registered gains for the month. Globally, equities continued their bullish rally as indicated by the MSCI World Index which gained by 2.3%, extending YTD gains of 16.8%. MSCI EM Index gained towards the month-end recuperating from its mid-month weakness. U.S and U.K were also positive for the month. GCC Markets: Most markets end...