The Arab Monetary Fund has issued the sixty-third edition of the “Monthly Bulletin of Arab Capital Markets,” which showed that the majority of Arab financial markets recorded positive performance during January 2026, in line with the upward trend observed in several advanced and emerging financial markets. The Arab Monetary Fund Composite Index for Arab financial markets rose by 1.44 percent by the end of the month.
Nine Arab stock exchanges recorded improved performance during the period, supported by gains in the banking, energy, insurance, financial services, and consumer retail sectors, contributing to an increase in market capitalization. The Egyptian Exchange led the rising markets with an increase of 14.24 percent, followed by the Saudi and Muscat exchanges at 8.50 percent and 7.90 percent, respectively. The markets of Tunisia, Dubai, and Qatar also recorded gains of 6.72 percent, 6.42 percent, and 5.09 percent, respectively, while the Abu Dhabi and Palestine exchanges rose by 2.89 percent and 1.68 percent, respectively.
In contrast, five Arab stock exchanges recorded declines in their indices due to weaker performance in certain sectors, including travel and leisure, consumer services, and media. The Casablanca Stock Exchange declined by less than one percent, while the markets of Bahrain, Amman, Iraq, and Kuwait recorded declines ranging between 1.09 percent and 3.84 percent.
Globally, the performance of Arab markets coincided with improvements in several international financial market indices. The Morgan Stanley, Nikkei, and FTSE indices recorded increases of 6.19 percent, 5.93 percent, and 2.94 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq indices rose by 1.73 percent, 1.37 percent, and 0.95 percent, respectively.
The bulletin attributed the improved performance of several Arab markets to a number of factors, most notably improved results and higher quarterly profits of listed companies, portfolio restructuring by investors, rising global oil prices, and the stability of global monetary policies. These factors helped enhance liquidity and improve investor sentiment during the period.
The full bulletin is available at the following link:
https://www.amf.org.ae/ar/publications/nshrt-aswaq-almal/alnshrt-alshhryt-laswaq-almal-alrbyt-aldd-althalth-walstwn