Middle East Market Wrap 31 August: 8 of 9 regional benchmarks fall as WTI jumps more than 3 percent
The full regional board traded together for the first time since Thursday, with Abu Dhabi and Dubai back after Friday’s holiday and their normal Sunday closure, and 8 of the 9 headline market benchmarks fell. Oman was the only one to rise. The selling ran against a sharp move up in crude, which was more than 3 percent higher on the West Texas Intermediate contract when the regional boards closed.
Dubai posts the weakest close as the UAE markets return
Dubai’s general index fell 0.79 percent to 5,836.00, the steepest decline of any headline benchmark, on its first session since Thursday 27 August. Abu Dhabi’s FTSE ADX General Index fell 0.37 percent to 10,007.44. Both had been closed on Friday 28 August for the Prophet’s birthday and neither trades on Sunday.
The Dubai figure is the exchange’s own published change, from its daily closing value table, which also records no row for Friday 28 August and a row for Monday 31 August.
Qatar was the next weakest at 0.57 percent lower, dragged by consumer goods and services at 3.47 percent down and telecoms at 2.12 percent down, against gains in transportation and industrials. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share fell 0.28 percent to 11,127.08 and Kuwait’s all share index 0.16 percent to 8,897.40. Oman’s MSX 30 was the exception, rising 0.35 percent to 7,604.011. All 3 of its sectorial indices were higher, and the separate Shariah index also gained.
The EGX 30 and the EGX 70 diverge sharply
The EGX 30 fell 0.13 percent, the second smallest move on the board, while the equal weighted EGX 70 fell 2.06 percent and the EGX 100 fell 1.51 percent. On our calculation the EGX 70 trailed the EGX 30 by 1.93 percentage points.
That is a reversal of the previous session, when the EGX 70 rose 0.30 percent against a 0.31 percent fall in the EGX 30 and the EGX 70 led the EGX 30 by 0.61 percentage points. The swing between the 2 sessions is 2.54 percentage points on our calculation. Breadth matched the EGX 70 reading rather than the EGX 30, with 85 stocks higher against 128 lower.
The Egyptian pound weakened against the dollar on the same day. The Central Bank of Egypt set the dollar at 50.8560 pounds to buy and 50.9926 to sell, against 50.4566 and 50.5966 on Sunday, a rise of 0.79 percent in the buying rate on our calculation.
Crude, the sector spreads and the official rates
Brent was 2.91 percent higher and West Texas Intermediate 3.20 percent higher in quotes captured at 12:26 GMT, while gold slipped 0.47 percent and the dollar index eased 0.16 percent. The 2 crude contracts are not directly comparable with each other this week: Brent has rolled to November delivery while West Texas Intermediate is still quoted on October.
Kuwait’s sectors spread 5.82 percentage points on our calculation, from insurance at 2.86 percent higher to health care at 2.96 percent lower, with energy 2.41 percent lower despite the move in crude. Jordan’s index eased 0.20 percent to 4,000.27, where chemical industries fell 3.48 percent and the industrial sector as a whole 1.08 percent.
The Central Bank of Kuwait left the dollar unchanged at 307.150 fils, with the euro, sterling and the yen all marginally firmer against the dinar.
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| MSX 30 (Oman) | 7,604.011 | +0.35% |
| Nomu Parallel Market (Saudi Arabia) | 21,747.26 | -0.11% |
| EGX 30 (Egypt) | 54,866.04 | -0.13% |
| Kuwait All Share (Kuwait) | 8,897.40 | -0.16% |
| MSCI Tadawul 30 (Saudi Arabia) | 1,499.38 | -0.17% |
| Bahrain All Share (Bahrain) | 1,935.96 | -0.20% |
| Premier Market (Kuwait) | 9,288.30 | -0.20% |
| ASE Index (Jordan) | 4,000.27 | -0.20% |
| Tadawul All Share (Saudi Arabia) | 11,127.08 | -0.28% |
| FTSE ADX General (Abu Dhabi) | 10,007.44 | -0.37% |
| QE Index (Qatar) | 9,806.85 | -0.57% |
| QE All Share (Qatar) | 3,849.99 | -0.60% |
| DFM General (Dubai) | 5,836.00 | -0.79% |
| EGX 100 EWI (Egypt) | 27,262.44 | -1.51% |
| EGX 70 EWI (Egypt) | 20,893.38 | -2.06% |
Closes for Monday 31 August 2026, ranked by change. Source: each index’s own exchange. The count of 8 of 9 falling uses one headline benchmark per market: the Tadawul All Share, Kuwait All Share, QE Index, Bahrain All Share, MSX 30, ASE Index, EGX 30, FTSE ADX General and DFM General. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are counted as 2 separate market benchmarks within the same country, so the 9 cover 8 countries. The remaining rows are additional segment or comparison gauges.
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| WTI Crude, NYMEX (Oct’26), dollars a barrel | $86.07 | +3.20% |
| Brent Crude, ICE (Nov’26), dollars a barrel | $90.66 | +2.91% |
| Natural Gas, NYMEX (Oct’26), dollars a million Btu | $2.897 | +0.31% |
| Silver, COMEX (Sep’26), dollars an ounce | $67.185 | +0.28% |
| Gold, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | $4,508.40 | -0.47% |
Intraday quotes captured in a single call at 12:26 GMT on 31 August 2026, before the settlement windows. Percentages are ours, computed from each contract’s level and change. Brent has rolled to the November contract while West Texas Intermediate is still quoted on October, so the 2 are not a like for like pair this week.
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese yen, CBK official rate, fils per yen | 1.9218 | +0.17% |
| Pound sterling, CBK official rate, fils per pound | 415.943 | +0.06% |
| Euro, CBK official rate, fils per euro | 355.941 | +0.04% |
| US dollar, CBK official rate, fils per dollar | 307.150 | 0.00% |
| ICE US Dollar Index | 99.543 | -0.16% |
| CBE Exchange Rate, buy, pounds per dollar | 50.8560 | n/a |
| CBE Exchange Rate, sell, pounds per dollar | 50.9926 | n/a |
Central Bank of Kuwait official rates for 31 August 2026, T plus 2 value date. Central Bank of Egypt exchange rate for 31 August 2026, buy and sell. The dollar index is an intraday quote captured at 12:26 GMT.
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Straits Times (Singapore) | 5,755.36 | +0.97% |
| Shanghai Composite (China) | 3,986.30 | +0.86% |
| Kospi (South Korea) | 6,820.02 | +0.46% |
| Shenzhen Component (China) | 14,015.00 | +0.44% |
| Topix (Japan) | 4,156.29 | +0.23% |
| Hang Seng (Hong Kong) | 25,566.99 | -0.07% |
| Nikkei 225 (Japan) | 66,311.93 | -0.14% |
| S&P/ASX 200 (Australia) | 9,076.00 | -0.18% |
| Nifty 50 (India) | 24,080.40 | -0.39% |
| Taiex (Taiwan) | 46,128.47 | -0.44% |
Monday 31 August 2026 closes, carried from our Asia Market Wrap of 31 August 2026, for reference.
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| CAC 40 (France) | 8,401.18 | +0.98% |
| Euro Stoxx 50 (euro area) | 6,485.67 | +0.95% |
| AEX (Netherlands) | 1,112.28 | +0.81% |
| IBEX 35 (Spain) | 20,041.90 | +0.81% |
| DAX (Germany), Xetra close | 26,569.99 | +0.77% |
| FTSE MIB (Italy) | 52,616.12 | +0.67% |
| BEL 20 (Belgium) | 5,869.08 | +0.52% |
| Stoxx Europe 600 (Europe) | 655.16 | +0.51% |
| PSI 20 (Portugal) | 9,430.91 | +0.44% |
| OMXS30 (Sweden) | 3,331.26 | +0.30% |
| FTSE 100 (United Kingdom) | 10,824.26 | +0.29% |
| SMI (Switzerland) | 14,399.77 | +0.11% |
Friday 28 August 2026 closes, carried from our Europe Market Wrap of 28 August 2026, for reference. European markets were still trading when this wrap was captured.
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 53,559.99 | -0.02% |
| S&P 500 | 7,711.76 | -0.25% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,402.42 | -0.52% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 29,433.43 | -0.70% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,972.37 | -1.39% |
Friday 28 August 2026 closes, carried from our US Market Wrap of 28 August 2026, for reference. United States markets had not opened when this wrap was captured.
Why it matters: The day’s most useful observation is that regional equities and crude moved in opposite directions. Eight of the 9 headline market benchmarks fell while West Texas Intermediate rose 3.20 percent and Brent 2.91 percent, and Kuwait’s own energy sector fell 2.41 percent on the same session. A one day crude rally does not mechanically require Gulf equities to rise, so the significance is the divergence itself rather than evidence of a broken relationship. The second observation is Egypt, where the gap between the EGX 30 and the EGX 70 swung 2.54 percentage points in a single session on our calculation, while the Central Bank of Egypt’s dollar buying rate rose 0.79 percent against the pound. That combination says more about Egyptian market conditions than the 0.13 percent headline fall in the EGX 30 does on its own. No approved source established a common driver for the regional equity moves, so they are reported here as price facts.
Outlook: The full board trades again on Tuesday, with the UAE now in step with the rest of the region for the remainder of the week. Attention outside the region turns to the United States August employment report on Friday 4 September, ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on 15 and 16 September. Whether crude holds the ground it took on Monday, and whether Gulf equity boards continue to trade away from it, is the question for the coming sessions.
Sources: Saudi Exchange; Boursa Kuwait; Qatar Stock Exchange; Bahrain Bourse; Muscat Stock Exchange; Amman Stock Exchange; the Egyptian Exchange; Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange; Dubai Financial Market; Central Bank of Kuwait, foreign currencies exchange rates; Central Bank of Egypt, CBE exchange rates; Bureau of Labor Statistics; Federal Reserve; CNBC; The Edge, Middle East Market Wrap of 30 August, Asia Market Wrap of 31 August, and Commodities Wrap, Europe Market Wrap and US Market Wrap of 28 August 2026.
