\n\tRIYADH: Gulf business conditions diverged in October as Kuwait\u2019s non-oil sector strengthened, Qatar\u2019s non-energy growth slowed, and Egypt\u2019s contraction eased to an eight-month low.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAccording to the latest S&P Global Purchasing Managers\u2019 Index surveys, Kuwait\u2019s PMI rose to 52.8, indicating solid growth; Qatar\u2019s PMI slipped to 50.6, pointing to only a marginal upturn; and Egypt\u2019s index increased to 49.2, suggesting a softer decline in business activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIn Egypt, the non-oil private sector showed signs of stabilization as declines in output and new orders moderated. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe PMI rose from 48.8 in September to 49.2 in October, remaining below the 50 threshold that separates growth from contraction but above its long-term trend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe Egypt PMI stayed above its long-term trend in October, pointing to a year-on-year GDP growth rate of about 4.6 percent,\u201d said David Owen, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.<\/p>\n
\n\tHowever, he cautioned that \u201crising cost pressures could slow things down if companies struggle to absorb these costs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWage costs climbed at the fastest rate since 2020, lifting input inflation, though firms largely held prices steady to support sales.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIn Kuwait, non-oil firms reported faster increases in output, new orders, and employment, marking the most robust expansion in several months. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe PMI climbed to 52.8 from 52.2 in September. \u201cThe October PMI data for Kuwait help to allay any fears that the recent growth slowdown was going to result in a more prolonged soft patch,\u201d said Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.<\/p>\n
\n\tHiring grew at the fastest pace in four months, but staff shortages contributed to a further accumulation of backlogs.<\/p>\n
\n\tCompanies also faced sharper rises in input and staff costs, yet output prices rose only marginally as firms sought to remain competitive and secure new business.<\/p>\n
\n\tMeanwhile, Qatar\u2019s non-energy private sector recorded a slowdown, with the headline PMI easing to 50.6 in October from 51.5 in September, the weakest reading since January.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe decline reflected softer output and new order volumes, with construction activity showing notable weakness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cQatar\u2019s non-energy private sector continued to report an overall improvement in business conditions in October,\u201d said Trevor Balchin, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat said, he added, the headline PMI eased to a nine-month low of 50.6, signaling only a fractional upturn.<\/p>\n
\n\tDespite weaker demand, employment increased at one of the fastest rates on record, led by gains in manufacturing.<\/p>\n
\n\tFirms also reported rising wages and purchase prices but lower overall input costs as competitive pressures weighed on selling prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIYADH: Gulf business conditions diverged in October as Kuwait\u2019s non-oil sector strengthened, Qatar\u2019s non-energy growth slowed, and Egypt\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,184,85,46],"class_list":["post-116727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}