Mideast Stocks: Gulf bourses close lower ahead of Q3 earnings, regional tensions

Eastern

17/10/2024 14:59

By Ateeq Shariff
       Oct 17 (Reuters) - Stock markets in the Gulf ended lower
on Thursday as investors await more third-quarter earnings amid
escalating geopolitical tensions in the region and softening oil
prices.
    Lately the markets have been under pressure on worries that
Israel would attack Iran in retaliation for the latter's Oct. 1
missile strike.
    Russia is warning Israel to not even consider striking
Iranian nuclear facilities, state news agency TASS quoted Deputy
Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Thursday.
    The statement was attached to a Washington Post article
which said Netanyahu had told President Joe Biden's
administration that Israel would strike Iranian military
targets, not nuclear or oil targets.
    Saudi Arabia's benchmark index  .TASI  dropped 1.1%, with
aluminium products manufacturer Al Taiseer Group  4143.SE 
losing 1.8% and Al Rajhi Bank  1120.SE  sliding 2.9%.
    The kingdom's crude oil exports in August fell to their
lowest level in a year, data from the Joint Organizations Data
Initiative (JODI) showed on Thursday.
    Among other fallers, oil giant Saudi Aramco  2222.SE  eased
0.4%.
    Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets -
were broadly flat as investors waited on developments in the
Middle East, the release of official U.S. oil inventory data and
details on China's stimulus plans.
    Dubai's main share index  .DFMGI  dropped 0.6%, with top
lender Emirates NBD  ENBD.DU  declining 2.7% after reporting a
flat third-quarter net profit, as an increase in net interest
income was offset by higher impairment charges and investments
to drive future growth.
    In Abu Dhabi, the index  .FTFADGI  lost 0.3%, weighed down
by a 1.8% drop in the United Arab Emirates' biggest lender First
Abu Dhabi Bank  FAB.AD  ahead of its earnings announcement.
    The Qatari index  .QSI  finished flat, with Commercial Bank
 COMB.QA  retreating 2.2% after the lender posted a mere 2.6%
increase in nine-month net profit.
    Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index  .EGX30  concluded
1.3% lower, with tobacco monopoly Eastern Company  EAST.CA 
tumbling 6.3%.    
   
    
 SAUDI ARABIA   .TASI  fell 1.1% to 11,907
 ABU DHABI      .FTFADGI  lost 0.3% to 9,277
 DUBAI          .DFMGI  dropped 0.6% to 4,459
 QATAR          .QSI  declined 2% to 10,733
 EGYPT          .EGX30  lost 1.3% to 30,143
 BAHRAIN        .BAX  eased 0.1% to 2,000
 OMAN           .MSX30  slipped 0.3% to 4,800
 KUWAIT         .BKP  down 0.6% to 7,577
 
 (Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Daren
Butler)
 ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))