Investors Are Expected To Rebalance Their Portfolios To Align It With The Changing Macroeconomic Environment Globally

Global equity markets couldn’t sustain the positive momentum for the seventh consecutive week as they recorded a modest decline during the week. The markets were mostly volatile during the week due to uncertainties over signing a trade deal between the US and China before the end of the year.

US PMI for the month of November 2019 showed improvement in economic activity; however, the positive developments were not reflected in market performance as investors focused on trade developments during the week. Brent crude oil prices were up 0.14% during the week over worries about rising tensions in the Middle East and lower than expected stockpile in the US.

For the regional markets, trading activity was negative during the week as the equity markets were weighed by trade uncertainty and domestic factors. During the week, 5 out of the 8 regional indexes closed in red, while 3 closed in green. Egypt was the worst performing index regionally with losses of 3.10%, followed by losses of 1.87% in Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia led the region with gains of 1.75%, followed by 1.06% in Kuwait.

Going forward, global markets will remain sensitive to trade-related headlines, while closely monitoring the economic indicators to gauge the impact of measures undertaken by the global Central Banks. On the regional front, the equity markets will continue to take cues from global markets due to lack of developments within the domestic markets. Furthermore, investors are expected to rebalance their portfolios to align it with the changing macroeconomic environment globally.