Major Gulf markets fall on U.S. rate concerns

Major stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trade on Thursday amid concerns about the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path, with the Qatari index on course to post second weekly loss.

Hawkish rhetoric by the Fed and signs of resilience in the world’s largest economy have raised expectations that rates in the U.S. may rise further.

Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the dollar and any monetary policy change in the United States is usually followed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index dropped 0.5%, weighed down by a 0.7% fall in oil giant Saudi Aramco and a 3.1% drop in Arabian Internet and Communications Services .

Saudi Arabia and Russia on Wednesday said they were continuing voluntary oil cuts to year end as tightening supply and rising demand support oil prices.

In Abu Dhabi, the index was down 0.5%.

Dubai’s main share index declined 0.4%, with to lender Emirates NBD losing 1.1%.

Separately, sales of homes worth $10 million or more in Dubai hit about $1.6 billion in the third quarter, according to an industry report published on Wednesday, up from $1.13 billion in the same period a year ago.

However, Union Properties jumped more than 7%, after the firm announced that it will receive 650 million dirhams ($176.99 million) from its former chairman under a settlement agreement.

The Qatari benchmark retreated 0.5%, on course to post its second weekly loss, as most of the stocks on the index were in negative territory. ($1 = 3.6726 UAE dirham)

(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Alison Williams)