Middle East Market Wrap 24 September: Kuwait Extends Its Gain as Brent Holds Above 105 Dollars

By The Edge Research Team

The region’s revenue tape set the tone on Thursday. Brent traded 1.92 percent above Wednesday’s written settlement at 105.06 dollars a barrel at our 12:00 GMT capture, Kuwait’s All Share added 0.07 percent for a second straight gain, Amman led the region’s risers at 0.75 percent higher, and Bahrain edged 0.03 percent higher on 141 trades. Riyadh returned from Wednesday’s National Day closure to put all nine boards we track back on the screen together for the first time since Tuesday, closing its reopening session 0.77 percent lower at 10,598.88, and six boards ended lower on the day with Cairo’s EGX 30 down 0.83 percent while holding a 28.56 percent gain for the year on the exchange’s own panel, its pound still below 52 to the dollar on the central bank’s fixing for a fourth day.

Kuwait extends its gain as Riyadh rejoins the board

Kuwait was the Gulf’s standing exception for a second day. The All Share’s 0.07 percent rise to 8,837.01 came on 87.9 million dinars of value across 24,027 trades, with the industrials sector index up 1.29 percent and insurance up 1.20 percent against a 1.16 percent easing in the technology sector index that swung from a 14.58 percent single day fall to a 12.20 percent rise across Tuesday and Wednesday, all per the exchange’s own boards; the BK Main 50 rose 0.73 percent, the Main Market index 0.23 percent and the Premier Market index 0.04 percent. The capital raising tape stayed busy too: the exchange’s announcements page carried Warba Bank’s disclosure that the Capital Markets Authority approved the prospectus for a private offering of additional tier one sukuk, a day after Boubyan Bank’s disclosure of regulatory approvals for its own additional tier one issue, and Al Mazaya Holding’s disclosure of a capital increase approval, while Warba’s shares closed 0.74 percent lower on the day, facts we report side by side without assigning cause. Riyadh’s return put the region’s biggest market back to work: the Tadawul All Share closed its first session since Wednesday’s National Day closure 0.77 percent lower at 10,598.88, measured against its 22 September close, on a board of 192 decliners against 70 gainers across 272 listed symbols per the exchange’s summary. Abu Dhabi’s FTSE ADX General ended 0.61 percent lower at 10,205.96 on 1.25 billion dirhams of value across 22,852 trades, with the growth market index rising 0.45 percent against the session, Dubai’s DFM General closed at 5,983.05, 0.42 percent lower on our calculation, and Qatar’s QE Index finished at 9,477.68, 0.71 percent lower on our calculation against Wednesday’s close from the exchange ticker’s level.

Amman leads the risers and Egypt’s pound holds its run below 52

The region’s clearest green was in Jordan. Amman’s ASE Index rose 0.75 percent to 4,125.57 on our calculation, matching the exchange’s displayed figure, on a board of 48 gainers against 28 decliners, the day’s strongest breadth in the region. Muscat’s MSX 30 held nearly flat for a second session, easing 0.04 percent on a split tape of 23 gainers against 20 decliners with 29 unchanged, and Bahrain’s All Share closed higher at 1,903.49. Cairo’s EGX 30 ended 0.83 percent lower at 53,776.69, the day’s deepest move on the regional board, on a board of 170 decliners against 42 gainers per the exchange’s own panel, while keeping a 28.56 percent year to date gain on the same panel, and the central bank’s official dollar fixing moved to 51.7303 buy and 51.8303 sell, 0.69 percent weaker for the pound on both sides from Wednesday’s fixing on our calculation, while extending the run below 52 on both sides to a fourth day. Kuwait’s central bank set its dollar reference rate at 0.30765/75, the dollar firmer by 0.20 fils on both sides from Wednesday’s fixing. And the barrel kept the region’s revenue side loud: Brent traded 1.92 percent above Wednesday’s written settlement at 105.06 dollars at our capture, with WTI 1.68 percent higher at 93.71 on the November contract, on the day the network carried a Reuters report that Asia is on track to import 23.96 million barrels of crude a day in September, its highest volume since the start of the war.

Top gainers

Top gainers, closes of Thursday 24 September 2026 from the exchanges’ own pages, read between 11:47 and 12:05 GMT and re-read stable after 13:00 GMT, ranked by change; the Kuwait and Bahrain changes are the exchanges’ own daily figures and the Amman percentage is our calculation against Wednesday’s close, matching the exchange’s displayed figure, each close reconciling against our published 23 September closes.

Top losers

Top losers, same session as the gainers table, stacked shallowest to deepest; the Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Cairo changes are the exchanges’ own, the Riyadh change is the exchange’s own daily figure measured against its 22 September close, its last session before the National Day closure, with that close read after the 12:00 GMT closing auction and stable across three reads to 12:28 GMT, and the Dubai and Doha percentages are our calculations against Wednesday’s closes; each close reconciles against our published closes.

Commodities and currencies

Intraday quotes captured at 12:00 GMT on Thursday 24 September 2026, one call, one stamp, fixed order; the Brent and WTI changes are measured against Wednesday’s written settlements as carried in the price feed, which match the settlements cited in our 23 September wraps exactly, with the WTI row on the November contract as disclosed there, and the gold and silver changes are measured against Wednesday’s settlements as carried in the feed, settlement to snapshot. The currency rows are on the vendor’s daily basis.

Official reference rates

Dated official fixings from the central banks’ own pages; the CBK level is the official dollar/dinar reference rate with the value date its page carries, the dollar firmer by 0.20 fils on both sides from Wednesday’s fixing, and the CBE levels are its published average market rate series in Egyptian pounds, buy and sell, 0.69 percent weaker for the pound on both sides from Wednesday’s fixing on our calculation and below 52 on both sides for a fourth day.

Asia reference

Carried whole from our Asia Market Wrap of 24 September 2026, closes of Thursday 24 September on the basis published there; the Nikkei 225 and Topix changes are measured against their 18 September closes, Japan’s final cash session before its three day closure, and South Korea’s market carried no session, shut for the first of two Chuseok holidays, so the Kospi carries no row and returns Monday 28 September.

Why it matters: the region’s ledger has two sides and the stronger one is the revenue side, on our reading. Brent above 105 dollars at our capture, on the day the network carried Asia’s crude imports running at their highest since the start of the war, keeps the exporters’ receipts building whatever a single equity session prints, and the day’s equity moves were shallow: every one of the nine boards moved less than 1 percent, Kuwait extended its gain, and Amman posted the region’s strongest breadth. Riyadh’s reopening print restores the full nine board picture rather than setting a direction, one session after a holiday, and Kuwait’s tape shows where the region’s depth is going: two banks adding tier one capital in two days and a listed company’s capital increase approved, the kind of pipeline that builds on a barrel above 105. Cairo’s deepest move of the day sits inside a year that still shows a 28.56 percent gain on the exchange’s own panel, with the pound’s run below 52 intact at four days.

Outlook: our Europe wrap follows a session that opened with oil ticking higher and energy shares bucking a lower market, per the network’s blog as recorded in our Asia wrap, and our commodities and United States wraps take tonight’s settlements with Brent above 105 at our capture, a level that builds the region’s revenue story into the fourth quarter if it holds to settlement. Seoul returns Monday 28 September from its Chuseok break, and Riyadh’s next session opens the new Gulf trading week with the reopening print behind it and the barrel at its back.

Sources: Saudi Exchange, Boursa Kuwait, Muscat Stock Exchange, Bahrain Bourse, Qatar Stock Exchange, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Dubai Financial Market, Amman Stock Exchange, The Egyptian Exchange, Central Bank of Kuwait, Central Bank of Egypt, CNBC, Reuters, The Edge.

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