GCC stocks down for second straight month in June amid recession fears

RIYADH: Stock exchanges in the Gulf Cooperation Council states logged their second straight monthly decline in June as fears over inflation and recession rattled investors.

MSCI GCC Index, which captures the performance of indexes across the region, was down 9 percent as it exited its worst month so far this year, a report by Kamco Invest revealed.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia posted the biggest drop of nearly 11 percent, followed by Abu Dhabi and Qatar with declines of 6.8 and 5.6 percent, respectively.

The Omani benchmark index bucked the trend to close slightly higher, securing a 0.2-percent gain.

This happened amid worries about rising inflation and interest rate hikes as well as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and China’s COVID-19 lockdowns.

That said, the aggregate index is up 2.8 percent in terms of year-to-date gains, having performed four straight months in the green before dropping in May.