june 16 reuters  most stock markets in the gulf ended lower on thursday after the us federal reserve delivered an aggressive rate hike and cut its growth projections the us central bank on wednesday approved its biggest interest rate hike since 1994 lifting the target federal funds rate by 75 basis points to a range of between 15 and 175 fed officials also see further steady rises this year targeting a federal funds rate of 34 by yearend read more dubais main share index dfmgi slid 17 underperforming the region with shariacompliant lender dubai islamic bank disbdu falling 36 and bluechip developer emaar properties emardu retreated 13 the central bank of the united arab emirates said on wednesday it increased its base rate by threequarters of a percentage point to 3 moving in parallel with the us federal reserves hike as its currency is pegged to the dollar in abu dhabi the index ftfadgi fell 08 hit by a 09 decline in the countrys biggest lender first abu dhabi bank fabad saudi arabias benchmark index tasi dropped 13 falling for a fifth consecutive session dragged down by a 37 fall in the al rajhi bank 1120se the saudi stock market continued its decline while the feds decision added more pressure on the market said farah mourad senior market analyst of xtb mena the market could find some support if oil prices stabilize oil prices a key catalyst for the gulfs financial markets erased early gains to fall to twoweek lows on the back of inflation concerns though tight oil supply limited losses the saudi central bank said on wednesday it increased its key interest rates by 50 basis points after the fed move read more outside the gulf egypts bluechip index egx30 finished 1 lower as most of the stocks on the index were in negative territory including top lender commercial international bank comica which was down 18 reporting by fathimath jazeela in bengaluru editing by alex richardson