From Atiq Sharif

(Reuters) – Stock markets in the Gulf region ended higher on Thursday as growing expectations of the end of a cycle of Federal Reserve (U.S. central bank) interest rate hikes boosted risk appetite.

U.S. retail sales fell in October, although the decline was smaller than expected, after several months of strong gains, signaling a slowdown in demand that could bolster expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will end interest rate hikes.

Monetary policy in the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries is generally guided by the decisions of the US Federal Reserve, with most of the region’s currencies pegged to the dollar.

It rose 0.5 percent, while shares of Etihad Adeeb Communications ( Tadaul: ) rose 5.1 percent and oil major Aramco ( Tadaul: ) rose 0.5 percent.

Data from the Joint Ventures Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Thursday that September exports rose three percent from the previous month to 5.75 million barrels per day.

Dubai’s index rose 0.6 percent, led by gains in Emaar Properties ( DFM: ) which rose 1.2 percent.

CFI’s global director of education and research, George Khoury, said the stock market in Dubai has recovered somewhat, but it still suffers from high volatility and uncertainty.

In Abu Dhabi, the index rose 0.4 percent.

Qatar’s index rose 0.4 percent as shares of Industries Qatar Petrochemicals rose 1.7 percent and Qatar Islamic Bank rose 1.1 percent.

Khouri said Qatar’s stock market had recorded strong gains, supported by the banking sector, and continued to recover after surpassing earlier peaks.

“However, the market may see some risks as the performance of markets is affected by uncertainty,” he added.

Outside the Gulf region, the leading stock index rose 1 percent.

(Prepared by Amira Zahran for Arabian Bulletin – Editing by Mahmoud Reda Murad)