Middle East Market Wrap 27 August: Dubai leads a split session as three markets shut and Saudi large caps fall 0.32 percent
3 of the region’s exchanges did not open on Thursday. Boursa Kuwait, The Egyptian Exchange and the Muscat Stock Exchange were all closed for the Prophet’s Birthday, leaving 6 markets trading and a Middle East table of 8 index rows against 12 on Wednesday, on our count. Of the 6 that did open, the main benchmarks split evenly: Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi rose, while Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan fell. Dubai led at 0.27 percent and the MSCI Tadawul 30 was the weakest row at minus 0.32 percent, a spread of 59 basis points across the table, on our calculation.
In the largest market that did open, the day’s real signal was internal: more Saudi shares rose than fell, and the index still finished lower, which on our reading places the decline in the larger constituents. The MSCI Tadawul 30 fell 0.32 percent against 0.20 percent for the broad Tadawul All Share Index.
6 markets traded and 3 took the holiday
Boursa Kuwait’s own notice states that the exchange was closed on Thursday, 27 August 2026 and resumes operations on Sunday, 30 August 2026. The Egyptian Exchange published the same decision on 24 August: Thursday 27 August an official holiday, with trading to resume effective Sunday 30 August. The Muscat Stock Exchange did not publish a Thursday session at all, and its MSX 30 was still carrying the stamp the exchange applied to the 26 August session, at 7,532.529, which rounds to the 7,532.53 we published as Wednesday’s close.
The UAE exchanges traded through Thursday and take their holiday a day later. Dubai Financial Market and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange are closed on Friday 28 August, with trading resuming on Monday 31 August. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Jordan all held a session on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia: more risers than fallers, and a lower index
Of the 270 symbols listed on the Saudi Exchange, 143 finished higher and 115 lower. Advancers were therefore 55.4 percent of the 258 shares that recorded a move, on our calculation, and the market still closed down. That combination points to the larger constituents, on our reading, and the large cap MSCI Tadawul 30 is consistent with it: the 30 stock benchmark fell 0.32 percent while the all share index fell 0.20 percent, a gap of 12 basis points against the broad market, on our calculation.
That is a reversal from Wednesday. On 26 August the MSCI Tadawul 30 rose 0.42 percent against 0.25 percent for the Tadawul All Share Index, so the large cap benchmark was ahead by 17 basis points, on our calculation. The two sessions together are a swing of 29 basis points in the relationship between Saudi Arabia’s largest listed companies and the rest of its market, on our calculation.
The Nomu parallel market held up better than either, at minus 0.12 percent, after leading the whole region on Wednesday with a gain of 0.93 percent. Value traded on the Saudi Exchange came to 5.081 billion riyals on 250.3 million shares.
Dubai leads the 6 markets that traded, and a narrow book in Bahrain
Dubai finished 0.27 percent higher at 5,882.63, on the exchange’s own daily closing value, and Abu Dhabi added 0.09 percent to 10,044.52. The gap between the 2 Emirates markets was 18 basis points, against 89 basis points on Wednesday, on our calculation, when Dubai rose 0.55 percent and Abu Dhabi fell 0.34 percent. Qatar’s QE Index was the region’s second strongest performer, up 0.23 percent at 9,876.29, a gain of 22.19 points, on our calculation, on our published Wednesday close of 9,854.10.
Bahrain’s breadth line was narrow. The Bahrain All Share Index gave up 1.713 points to 1,941.497, a fall of 0.088 percent, and the exchange recorded 1 security higher, 5 lower and 6 unchanged, 12 in all on our count. Half of the securities in that line therefore did not move at all, on our calculation, and turnover came to 662,713.064 dinars. Jordan’s ASE Index finished at 4,008.73, down 0.21 percent against our published Wednesday close of 4,017.13, on our calculation.
Oil and metals at the 12:26 GMT capture
Crude was higher at the 12:26 GMT capture. ICE Brent for October delivery was quoted at 88.39 dollars a barrel, up 0.63 percent, and West Texas Intermediate for October at 82.41 dollars, up 0.22 percent. Natural gas for September was the strongest contract on the board at 2.895 dollars per million British thermal units, up 1.86 percent. Gold for December delivery slipped 0.14 percent to 4,646.70 dollars an ounce, while silver for September held a gain of 0.16 percent at 68.135 dollars.
Middle East equity indices, 27 August, ranked by change
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| DFM General (Dubai) | 5,882.63 | +0.27% |
| QE Index (Qatar) | 9,876.29 | +0.23% |
| FTSE ADX General (Abu Dhabi) | 10,044.52 | +0.09% |
| Bahrain All Share (Bahrain) | 1,941.497 | -0.088% |
| Nomu Parallel Market (Saudi Arabia) | 21,797.66 | -0.12% |
| Tadawul All Share (Saudi Arabia) | 11,237.93 | -0.20% |
| ASE Index (Jordan) | 4,008.73 | -0.21% |
| MSCI Tadawul 30 (Saudi Arabia) | 1,514.43 | -0.32% |
Boursa Kuwait, The Egyptian Exchange and the Muscat Stock Exchange were closed for the Prophet’s Birthday and are not shown. Levels are from each exchange, except Qatar, whose exchange feed published zeros; the QE Index level and change are taken from the market operator’s terminal and reconcile exactly to our published 26 August close of 9,854.10. The Saudi levels were read with the exchange showing a Negotiated Deals Only status, which follows the closing auction: Tadawul All Share 11,237.93, down 21.97 points from 11,259.90 on our calculation; MSCI Tadawul 30 1,514.43, down 4.87 points from 1,519.30 on our calculation; Nomu 21,797.66, down 25.87 points from 21,823.53 on our calculation. Dubai’s change is the exchange’s own published daily figure. The Amman Stock Exchange published its change as a magnitude with no sign, so the direction and the 0.21 percent shown here are measured against our published 26 August close of 4,017.13, on our calculation.
Commodities, intraday quotes captured at 12:26 GMT, ranked by change
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas (September) | $2.895 | +1.86% |
| ICE Brent crude (October) | $88.39 | +0.63% |
| WTI crude (October) | $82.41 | +0.22% |
| COMEX silver (September) | $68.135 | +0.16% |
| COMEX gold (December) | $4,646.70 | -0.14% |
| COMEX copper (September) | $6.5655 | -0.52% |
Intraday quotes captured at 12:26 GMT, ahead of the COMEX metals and NYMEX energy settlement windows, so these are quotes and not settlements. Contract months are as quoted at capture. Per CNBC.
Currencies, volatility and crypto, intraday quotes captured at 12:26 GMT, ranked by change
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $79,536.30 | +1.38% |
| US dollar against the Japanese yen | 159.37 | +0.05% |
| US dollar index | 99.198 | +0.03% |
| Euro against the US dollar | 1.1643 | -0.05% |
| Pound sterling against the US dollar | 1.358 | -0.10% |
| VIX | 14.94 | -1.78% |
Intraday quotes captured at 12:26 GMT. Per CNBC.
Official reference rates
| Rate | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| US dollar against the Kuwaiti dinar, CBK | 306.850 fils | 26 August 2026 |
| US dollar against the Egyptian pound, CBE buy | 50.1481 | 26 August 2026 |
| US dollar against the Egyptian pound, CBE sell | 50.2880 | 26 August 2026 |
Central Bank of Kuwait foreign currencies exchange rates and the Central Bank of Egypt’s CBE Exchange Rate in EGP, each carried with its own date.
Europe, 26 August session, carried from our Europe Market Wrap
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| BEL 20 (Belgium) | 5,860.95 | +0.45% |
| FTSE MIB (Italy) | 52,882.99 | +0.31% |
| Euro Stoxx 50 (euro area) | 6,473.62 | +0.28% |
| CAC 40 (France) | 8,462.39 | +0.27% |
| OMXS30 (Sweden) | 3,326.34 | +0.24% |
| SMI (Switzerland) | 14,542.90 | +0.12% |
| DAX (Germany), Xetra close | 26,285.96 | +0.08% |
| IBEX 35 (Spain) | 20,067.30 | +0.05% |
| Stoxx Europe 600 (Europe) | 656.64 | +0.02% |
| PSI 20 (Portugal) | 9,446.39 | +0.01% |
| OMX Helsinki (Finland) | 13,710.48 | -0.01% |
| AEX (Netherlands) | 1,107.76 | -0.05% |
| FTSE 100 (United Kingdom) | 10,878.12 | -0.07% |
| OMXC 25 (Denmark) | 1,920.84 | -0.74% |
Carried verbatim from our Europe Market Wrap for the 26 August session, the most recent completed European session at capture.
Asia, 27 August session, carried from our Asia Market Wrap
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Kospi (South Korea) | 6,912.37 | +1.53% |
| Shenzhen Component (China) | 14,048.88 | +1.50% |
| Kosdaq (South Korea) | 837.65 | +1.30% |
| Shanghai Composite (China) | 3,956.57 | +1.13% |
| Taiex (Taiwan) | 45,975.22 | +0.31% |
| Topix (Japan) | 4,117.22 | +0.15% |
| Nikkei 225 (Japan) | 66,131.98 | -0.20% |
| Hang Seng (Hong Kong) | 25,565.74 | -0.34% |
| Nifty 50 (India) | 24,090.85 | -0.48% |
| Straits Times (Singapore) | 5,684.12 | -0.65% |
| S&P/ASX 200 (Australia) | 9,038.20 | -0.98% |
Carried verbatim from our Asia Market Wrap for the 27 August session.
United States, 26 August session, carried from our US Market Wrap
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq 100 (United States) | 29,224.52 | +0.05% |
| S&P 500 (United States) | 7,675.70 | -0.02% |
| Nasdaq Composite (United States) | 26,130.20 | -0.08% |
| Russell 2000 (United States) | 3,005.90 | -0.14% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average (United States) | 53,463.88 | -0.21% |
Carried verbatim from our US Market Wrap for the 26 August session, the most recent completed US session.
Why it matters
The Gulf’s trading week does not run in step with the rest of the world, and on a day like Thursday it does not run in step with itself. With Kuwait, Egypt and Oman shut, the region’s aggregate move is not a reading on regional risk appetite; it is an artefact of who happened to be open. What can be read is the internal evidence from the markets that did trade. In Saudi Arabia, the largest listed companies underperformed the wider market by 12 basis points on our calculation, on a day when more shares rose than fell, having outperformed by 17 basis points the day before. In Bahrain, only 12 securities appeared in the exchange’s breadth line and half of them did not move. Both point to narrow participation rather than broad selling, on our reading. Across the 6 markets that traded, 3 main benchmarks rose and 3 fell, so the session was divided rather than directional.
Outlook
Boursa Kuwait, The Egyptian Exchange and the Muscat Stock Exchange each resume on Sunday 30 August by their own notices, while Dubai Financial Market and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange are closed on Friday 28 August and resume on Monday 31 August. Whether the Saudi large cap underperformance persists is a question for the next Saudi session, and we will measure it against Thursday’s levels of 11,237.93 on the Tadawul All Share Index and 1,514.43 on the MSCI Tadawul 30.
Sources: Saudi Exchange, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Dubai Financial Market, Bahrain Bourse, Amman Stock Exchange, Boursa Kuwait, The Egyptian Exchange, Muscat Stock Exchange, Central Bank of Kuwait, Central Bank of Egypt, CNBC, and the market operator’s terminal for the QE Index level and for confirmation of the Tadawul All Share level. Reference tables for Europe, Asia and the United States are carried from our own wraps for those sessions. Calculations described as ours are computed from the published levels shown.
