Market Wrap MENA 9 August: Egypt Hits Record High 55,125 as the Gulf Reopens Mixed

By The Edge Research Team

Regional markets reopened mixed on Sunday in their first session since the US jobs shock, with Egypt closing at a record while the Gulf split between modest advances and modest declines. Egypt’s EGX30 rose 0.82 percent to 55,125.43, its highest close in the exchange’s own daily records, extending its year-to-date gain to 31.79 percent, while Kuwait and Oman posted small gains and Saudi Arabia closed near flat, as Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan eased. The session was the region’s first chance to price Friday’s weak US payrolls report and the rally it triggered on Wall Street.

In the Gulf, Saudi Arabia’s TASI closed near flat, up 0.05 percent at 10,817.01, while the MT30 index rose 0.23 percent to 1,454.64, per the exchange’s closing prints. Boursa Kuwait’s Premier Market index gained 0.12 percent to 9,307.48 and the All-Share 0.09 percent to 8,873.26, per the exchange. Muscat’s MSX 30 rose 0.37 percent to 7,395.55, per the exchange, while Qatar’s QE Index eased 0.12 percent to 10,100.11, per the exchange and our calculation, and Bahrain’s All Share slipped 0.38 percent to 1,955.68, per the exchange. The United Arab Emirates, which observes a Saturday-Sunday weekend, was closed after trading Friday, when Dubai rose 0.45 percent and Abu Dhabi eased 0.26 percent, and returns Monday.

Egypt was the day’s standout. The EGX30 climbed 0.82 percent to 55,125.43, a record close in the exchange’s own since-inception daily series, with the session high of 55,136.01 also the highest on record, per the exchange. The index has climbed from 47,692.49 at the start of March and stands 31.79 percent above its end-2025 level on the exchange’s year-to-date basis, a run that has delivered successive highs through August. The Egyptian pound traded at 49.85 per dollar, per CNBC. Jordan’s ASE index fell 0.56 percent to 3,963.75, per the exchange, the session’s largest regional decline.

The backdrop was Friday’s US session. Wall Street closed the week higher after July payrolls fell by 23,000 against expectations for an 83,000 gain, a miss markets read as sharply lowering the odds of another Federal Reserve rate increase: the Nasdaq jumped 1.30 percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.62 percent and the Dow 0.28 percent, per CNBC, while Europe closed higher led by the DAX at 0.69 percent. The 10-year Treasury yield ended the week at about 4.65 percent and the VIX below 15.

In commodities and currencies, the weekend freeze holds until Monday’s Asian morning. Gold settled Friday at 4,392.20 dollars an ounce, up 2.15 percent on the day after trading above 4,400 following the jobs data, while West Texas Intermediate settled at 78.20 dollars and Brent at 83.56 dollars, per CNBC and our Friday commodities wrap, before easing in late electronic trading. Bitcoin, which trades through the weekend, stood 0.17 percent lower at about 64,891 dollars, and the Kuwaiti dinar held at its official reference of 0.3071 per dollar.

Why it matters: Sunday’s session is the first regional verdict on the jobs shock, and the verdict is composure with one exclamation mark, our reading. Every Gulf benchmark held within 0.4 percent of unchanged: Kuwait and Oman tracked Wall Street’s relief higher in miniature, Saudi Arabia finished flat once the closing auction settled, and the decliners eased rather than sold off. The exclamation mark is Egypt, where a record close extends a run that has now delivered nearly 32 percent this year, momentum that predates the week’s US drama and continued straight through it, with Jordan’s dip the only regional move of comparable size in the other direction. The restraint across the Gulf suggests the region is treating the US data the way Friday’s global markets did, as a rates story first and a growth story only if the evidence broadens.

Outlook: The week’s decisive test arrives Wednesday with July US consumer prices at 3:30 PM Kuwait time, which will test whether the fade in Fed rate hike expectations that lifted markets on Friday survives its first inflation reading, our reading. Before that, the UAE returns Monday to complete the regional picture, oil reopens overnight tonight with the EIA’s monthly outlook due Tuesday, and Thursday’s producer prices and Friday’s US retail sales round out a data-heavy week. Our daily wraps will track each session as it lands.

Table – MENA equities, 9 August close, ranked by change:

Table – US and Europe, Friday 7 August closes, for reference, ranked by change:

Table – Commodities, Friday 7 August settlements, markets closed Sunday:

Table – Currencies and crypto, latest, ranked by percent change:

Sources: CNBC; the regional exchanges.

Get Complimentary Insights

Follow us