DUBAI: Most stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Sunday, tracking Friday’s decline on Wall Street against the backdrop of a standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
Washington on Friday said Russia had massed enough troops near Ukraine to launch a major invasion and urged US citizens to leave the country within 48 hours after Russia stiffened its response to Western diplomacy. Moscow denies it plans to invade.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index led the losses, retreating 2% for its biggest daily decline since late November, with stocks falling across the board.
On Thursday 12 people were injured at Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport by shrapnel from an explosive-laden drone intercepted by air defences, said the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group.
The Houthis often launch attacks on Abha airport, which lies close to the Yemeni border in Saudi Arabia’s south, and other parts of the country with drones and missiles. Most attacks are intercepted but a few people have been killed and several injured.
Elsewhere, oil behemoth Saudi Aramco, reversed early gains to finish 0.7% down.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has transferred 4% of Saudi Aramco shares worth $80 billion to the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the government said on Sunday.
Sunday’s declines were despite crude oil prices, a catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets, closing at seven-year highs on Friday, driven up 3% by escalating fears of a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, adding to concerns over global crude supplies.
The Qatari index dropped 1.3%, with almost all stocks in negative territory, including petrochemicals producer Industries Qatar, which fell by 1.9%.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index closed 1.2% down, with top lender Commercial International Bank losing 0.7%.
SAUDI ARABIA fell 2% to 12,029
QATAR down 1.3% to 12,637
EGYPT lost 1.2% to 11,438
BAHRAIN was up 0.3% to 1,872
OMAN lost 0.1% to 4,088
KUWAIT dropped 0.6% to 8,03.
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