Fears of a prolonged Middle East conflict has caused most Gulf stocks to retreat.
The major Gulf stock markets dropped in the early hours of trading on Thursday, after Donald Trump said that the U.S. will continue to attack?Iran without indicating a definite end date.
In a late-night prime-time speech, Trump stated that the U.S. was planning to launch aggressive attacks on Iran in the coming two to three week period and were close to achieving their main strategic goals?in this conflict.
Emaar Properties, the blue-chip developer that is Dubai's largest shareholding company, saw its shares fall 1.6%.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank's 1.4% drop in value caused the index to fall 0.9%.
The?UAE Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that there were no accurate reports regarding the?residency status?of Iranians living in the Gulf State, and that Iran considers its Iranian community to be an integral part of the diverse social fabric.
Qatar Gas Transport and Qatar National Bank both declined by about 3%.
The regional conflict has intensified, increasing the threat to maritime traffic. The country's defense ministry said that an Iranian cruise missile struck an oil tanker, leased by QatarEnergy, in Qatari waters on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark indices bucking the trend gained 0.3%. This was helped by an increase of 0.2% in Al Rajhi Bank, and a 0.3% rise in oil giant?Saudi Aramco.
The oil price rose by?nearly 7% Thursday as the U.S./Iran conflict escalated, causing fears of a prolonged disruption in supply.
(source: Reuters)
