Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: The positive performance of the Gulf stock exchanges coincided with the issuance of new legislations and laws that contributed to increasing liquidity and attracting foreign investors, according to an industry expert.
“Transactions in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) witnessed a wave of rise in recent times that was supported most notably by the rise in oil and gas prices, in addition to providing the Gulf markets with real investment opportunities in light of their relative stability compared to global markets,” said Eman Al Ayyaf, CEO of Eman Alayyaf Trading, in an exclusive interview with Times of Oman.
An increase in oil and gas prices, geopolitical differences between Russia and Ukraine, high interest on the dollar and exponential growth will have a significant impact on energy markets, especially oil prices, Eman said.
Besides, there are political matters that will also affect oil prices in 2023, including the Russian-Ukrainian war and the possibility of resolving this crisis. The most logical expectation is that oil prices will range during the first six months of 2023 between $85 and $90 per barrel. But in the event of a multiplication of crises and a production cut, a barrel of oil is expected to rise to $110. “Here we have to wait and watch for how the oil-producing countries outside the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (Opec) will behave,” she said.
Regarding the next developments in US monetary policy, Eman said that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) has upcoming rate decisions on March 22 and May 3. “Despite the Fed’s conviction that inflation remains a major concern, the markets are less convinced that many more hikes are coming based on recent reports showing inflation easing. Markets suspect that the Fed will soon be done raising rates, perhaps as soon as the May 3 rate decision,” she added.
