Gulf markets mostly dropped at the opening on Thursday as fears of an imminent strike on Syria unsettled bourses globally, but Saudi Arabian stocks stabilised after their sell-off late on the previous day.
The geopolitical tensions have sent the Brent oil price soaring as high as $73.09 a barrel, a multi-year high, and strong oil prices are in themselves positive for Gulf economies, reports Reuters.
The Saudi index was up 0.2 per cent after half an hour, after plunging 1.9 per cent on Wednesday in the final hour of trade when US President Donald Trump tweeted that missiles “will be coming” to Syria.
On Thursday morning, food firm Savola Group rose 2.3 per cent and property firm Dar Al Arkan, again the most heavily traded stock, climbed 2.5 per cent.
Retailer Jarir Marketing dropped 0.8 per cent after reporting a marginal fall in first-quarter estimated net profit to 219.1 million ($58.4 million), in line with analysts’ estimates.
Other Gulf markets were in negative territory as they only had a chance to react to the Trump tweet in Thursday. The Dubai index was down 0.9 per cent, hit by property stocks and financials; Emaar Development fell 1.9 per cent and Dubai Islamic Bank was down 0.6 per cent.
Theme-park operator DXB Entertainments initially rose after reporting a 45 per cent jump in first-quarter visitor arrivals, but then gave up its gains.
The Abu Dhabi index was down 1.0 per cent, hit by weakness in banking stocks. First Abu Dhabi Bank slipped 1.2 per cent.
Qatari’s index was down 0.7 per cent, with Commercial Bank sinking 3.7 per cent.