Most stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Wednesday.
The Fed has left the policy rate in the current range of 5.25% to 5.5% since July © Mena Today
Most stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Wednesday, in line with global shares, as investors struggled with the possibility that the U.S. Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates as soon as previously expected.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller said the U.S. is "within striking distance" of the central bank's 2% inflation goal, but it should not rush toward cuts in its benchmark interest rate until it is clear that lower inflation will sustain.
The Fed has left the policy rate in the current range of 5.25% to 5.5% since July.
Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the dollar and any monetary policy change in the United States is usually mimicked by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) fell 0.7%, retreating from record highs it hit in the previous session, with Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA) losing 1.8%.
The organisers of two major Saudi energy and investment conferences said their events will go ahead this month and reassured visitors on security, after missile attacks on Riyadh's airport left four people dead and an airliner heavily damaged this week.
Several global and regional hotel groups are looking to enter or expand in Syria, senior executives told Reuters, betting that its rich history and coastal destinations will attract overseas tourists as well as Syrians who have long lived abroad.
Eighty-five percent of African private-sector transactions are conducted with companies outside the continent. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi used that figure on Saturday to open the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum, a three-day business summit in the Mediterranean city of El-Alamein.
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