Middle East Market Wrap 23 September: Kuwait Rebounds 0.86 Percent as Cairo Falls 1.29 Percent

By The Edge Research Team

The Gulf leaned higher on Wednesday with its biggest board dark. Kuwait’s All Share led the region, 0.86 percent higher at 8,830.61, taking back most of Tuesday’s fall as the exchange’s technology sector index swung from a 14.58 percent single day fall to a 12.20 percent rise, while Riyadh carried no session for Saudi National Day, per the exchange’s holiday calendar. Abu Dhabi added 0.36 percent on 2.22 billion dirhams of value, Dubai’s DFM General closed above the 6,000 line at 6,008.03, and Cairo’s EGX 30 fell 1.29 percent, the region’s deepest decline, on a board of 157 decliners against 45 gainers. Brent crude traded 1.05 percent higher at 100.29 dollars a barrel at our 12:13 GMT capture, back above the 100 dollar line, and Egypt’s pound firmed to a third day below 52 to the dollar on the central bank’s fixing.

Kuwait takes back Tuesday and Dubai closes over 6,000

The rebound was broad on Kuwait’s board and deepest where Tuesday’s fall was deepest. The All Share’s 0.86 percent rise came on 117.3 million dinars of value across 27,294 trades, with the technology sector index up 12.20 percent after Tuesday’s 14.58 percent slide, utilities up 1.49 percent, banks up 1.26 percent and industrials up 1.17 percent against falls of 1.03 percent in energy and 0.77 percent in basic materials, all per the exchange’s own boards; the Premier Market index rose 0.93 percent, the Main Market index 0.55 percent and the BK Main 50 0.61 percent. National Bank of Kuwait led the gainers at 2.71 percent higher, at 871 fils on 16.6 million shares, and the exchange’s announcements page carried, side by side, an unusual trading activity notice on the bank’s shares, Boubyan Bank’s disclosure that it secured regulatory approvals for a perpetual additional tier one sukuk issue of up to 500 million dollars, and a supplementary disclosure on Burgan Bank’s rights issue of up to 50 million dinars; the bourse’s homepage also carries its circular that, pursuant to a Capital Markets Authority resolution, a new trading, clearing and settlement structure takes effect from Sunday 4 October. In the Emirates, Abu Dhabi’s FTSE ADX General rose 0.36 percent to 10,269.01 on 2.22 billion dirhams of value across 23,929 trades, a figure that includes a single negotiated block of 804 million dirhams on the exchange’s blocks board, with the FTSE ADX 15 up 0.56 percent and the growth market index up 2.09 percent, and Dubai’s exchange printed a 0.18 percent daily gain at 6,008.03. Muscat’s MSX 30 eased 0.05 percent on a split tape, 22 gainers against 21 decliners with 23 unchanged, and Amman’s ASE Index slipped 0.20 percent to 4,095.00 on our calculation, matching the exchange’s displayed figure.

Cairo falls hardest while its pound has its firmest week

Egypt’s equity board and its currency went opposite ways again. The EGX 30 fell 1.29 percent to 54,224.93, the region’s deepest decline of the day, on a broad board of 45 gainers, 157 decliners and 19 unchanged, per the exchange’s own panel, while the central bank’s official dollar fixing moved to 51.3749 buy and 51.4749 sell, firmer by 0.30 and 0.38 percent from Tuesday, the pound’s third day below 52 on both sides. Bahrain’s All Share eased 0.40 percent on 158 trades and Qatar’s QE Index finished at 9,545.54, 0.33 percent higher on our calculation against Tuesday’s close from the exchange ticker’s level. Under the region’s boards the barrel turned: Brent traded 1.05 percent higher at 100.29 dollars at our capture, back above the 100 dollar line it slipped under on Tuesday, and WTI traded 0.10 percent higher at 90.61 on the November contract, its first session as front month after Tuesday’s October expiry. The day’s macro axis is unchanged from our Asia wrap: a senior Iranian official’s offer, per the network, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week if the United States eases its pressure and lifts the blockade, with President Masoud Pezeshkian due at the United Nations General Assembly later on Wednesday. Kuwait’s central bank set its dollar reference rate at 0.30745/55, the dollar firmer by 0.15 fils on both sides from Tuesday’s fixing.

Top gainers

Top gainers, closes of Wednesday 23 September 2026 from the exchanges’ own pages, read between 12:14 and 12:17 GMT, ranked by change; the Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Dubai changes are the exchanges’ own daily figures, each close reconciling against our published 22 September closes, and the Qatar percentage is our calculation against Tuesday’s close from the exchange ticker’s level. Riyadh carried no session: the Saudi Exchange was closed for Saudi National Day, per its holiday calendar as recorded, and the Tadawul All Share returns on Thursday 24 September.

Top losers

Top losers, same session and reads as the gainers table, stacked shallowest to deepest; the Muscat and Cairo changes are the exchanges’ own, each reconciling against our published 22 September closes, and the Amman and Bahrain percentages are our calculations against Tuesday’s closes, each matching the exchange’s own displayed figure.

Commodities and currencies

Intraday quotes captured at 12:13 GMT on Wednesday 23 September 2026, one call, one stamp, fixed order; the gold, silver and Brent changes are measured against Tuesday’s settlements as carried in the price feed, settlement to snapshot, and the WTI row tracks the November contract, which took the front month at Tuesday’s October expiry as disclosed in our commodities wrap, so its change is measured against November’s own Tuesday settlement as the feed carries it. 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 its standard T plus 2 value date, the dollar firmer by 0.15 fils on both sides from Tuesday’s fixing, and the CBE levels are its published average market rate series in Egyptian pounds, buy and sell, firmer by 0.30 and 0.38 percent from Tuesday’s fixing on our calculation.

Asia reference

Carried whole from our Asia Market Wrap of 23 September 2026, closes of Wednesday 23 September on the basis published there; the Taiex row is a second straight record close per Taiwan’s Central News Agency, and Japan’s cash equity markets were closed for the third and final day of their holiday run, so the Nikkei 225 and Topix carry no session.

Why it matters: the Gulf bought the barrel’s bounce with its biggest board dark, on our reading: Brent back above 100 dollars at our capture sat under a session where Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai all finished higher and only Muscat and Manama eased, while Riyadh sat out its National Day. Kuwait’s rebound reads as the mirror of Tuesday’s domestic slide rather than an oil trade: the technology sector print that fell 14.58 percent rose 12.20, the banks sector rose 1.26 percent with National Bank of Kuwait at the top of the gainers board, and the exchange’s own announcements page carried the unusual trading notice beside the day’s capital raising disclosures. Cairo is the day’s exception twice over, on our reading: the region’s deepest equity fall on the day’s broadest board of decliners landed on the same date as the pound’s firmest fixing of its run below 52.

Outlook: Riyadh returns on Thursday 24 September from its National Day closure, per the exchange’s holiday calendar, and the rest of the region trades whether Tehran’s offer on the Strait of Hormuz, reported by the network from a senior Iranian official, is taken up, rebuffed or priced, with Pezeshkian’s General Assembly address later on Wednesday the next word. Our Europe wrap follows a session the network’s blog reported opening higher, and our commodities wrap takes tonight’s settlements with Brent back above the 100 dollar line and the November WTI contract in its first session as front month.

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

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