RIYADH: Most Arab stock exchanges closed the second quarter of 2026 on the up, even as the Arab Monetary Fund’s composite index slipped 0.16 percent, its latest quarterly bulletin shows.
Arab equity markets broadly advanced during the quarter, with 13 of the 16 exchanges tracked by the AMF recording gains. Tunisia led the rally with a 29.28 percent jump, ahead of Egypt’s EGX30, which climbed 11.40 percent, and the Dubai Financial Market, up 9.59 percent.
Damascus, Palestine, and Bahrain, in addition to Casablanca, Amman and Kuwait posted solid gains, while Muscat recorded the steepest pullback at 8.09 percent after a strong first quarter.
Oil prices were a key swing factor behind the quarter’s regional divergence. Brent crude fell sharply as the US-Iran war that had driven prices higher earlier in the year began to de-escalate.
The US Energy Information Administration reported Brent averaging $85 a barrel in June, down $22 from May, following a June 18 US-Iran agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The decline pressured energy and petrochemical stocks in Gulf markets, even as it eased import costs for oil-importing economies elsewhere in the region.
