Middle East shares mostly gained, with Qatar recovering some of its 11-straight session losses to come off a five-year low. Locals were the main buyers who helped boost Qatar into the plus column.
Otherwise, investors were looking ahead to Wednesday when the Federal Open Market Committee ends its two-day meeting. Most investors expect the Fed to leave U.S. rates unchanged but will be looking for clues as to whether it expects to make a rate move before year-end. Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the dollar and any monetary policy change in the United States is usually mimicked by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. A rate hike is seen a boost to banks in the region.
In company news, Dana Gas advanced before a London High Court hearing on Monday and Tuesday over the validity of its sukuk. Last week, Dana dismissed a proposal from bondholders to restructure the $700 million Islamic bond.
Heliopolis for Housing jumped after local press Alborsa News said the firm planned to launch three new projects and management had set a sales target of 1.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($85.2 million) for 2018.
Saudi Arabia's main index eased 0.6% to 7,351 points, Dubai dipped 0.2% to 3,655 points, Abu Dhabi gained 0.3% to 4,464 points, Qatar edged up 0.1% to 8,289 points, Egypt rose 1% to 13,730 points, Kuwait firmed 0.04% to 6,893 points, Bahrain added 0.3% to 1,303 points and Oman inched up 0.2% to 4,998 points.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
