Major Gulf markets track Asian shares lower

Nov 22 (Reuters) – Major stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trade on Wednesday, tracking Asian shares lower as investors’ tempered some of their earlier enthusiasm about the prospect of an end to U.S. interest rate hikes.

U.S. Federal Reserve officials agreed at their last policy meeting that they would proceed “carefully” and only raise interest rates if progress in controlling inflation faltered, the minutes of the Oct. 31-Nov. 1 gathering showed on Tuesday.

Monetary policy in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is usually guided by the decisions of the U.S. Federal Reserve as most regional currencies are pegged to the dollar.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index (.TASI) dropped 0.1%, with the country’s biggest lender Saudi National Bank (1180.SE) losing 1.2%.

Separately, Saudi Arabian state-owned media giant MBC Group’s planned initial public offering (IPO) was approved by the kingdom’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) on Tuesday.

Dubai’s main share index (.DFMGI) eased 0.1%, with Al Ansari Financial Services (ALANSARI.DU) declining 1.8%.

In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI) retreated 0.3%.

The United Arab Emirates will hopefully be removed from a so-called “grey list” of countries under special scrutiny by the international FATF financial crime watchdog early next year, state minister for trade, Thani Al Zeyoudi, said on Tuesday.

The Qatari index (.QSI) lost 0.3%, weighed by a 0.7% drop in the Gulf’s biggest lender, Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA).

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