July 19 (Reuters) - Most Gulf stock markets fell on Sunday as the tit-for-tat attacks in the region between the United States and Iran intensified, exacerbating concerns about inflation and boosting expectations of a larger U.S. interest rate hike.

The United States announced that it had carried out airstrikes on Iran for the eighth consecutive night, after earlier reporting that two American soldiers had been killed in Jordan and another was missing following an Iranian attack.

The Kuwaiti military, which faced continued Iranian attacks on Saturday, said it intercepted more missiles and drones launched by Iran on Sunday. Bahraini state television reported that its air defenses also repelled an Iranian attack on the same day.

This escalation comes after the collapse of a temporary ceasefire last week, raising fears of a slide back into all-out war.

The index in Qatar fell 1.5 percent, weighed down by a 3 percent drop in shares of Qatar National Bank, the largest bank in the Gulf by assets. Shares of Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) also declined 2 percent.

The Qatari Ministry of Defense announced that its forces thwarted an Iranian missile attack early Friday morning, and the Ministry of Interior reported that a child was injured by shrapnel from the interception.

The Saudi index closed trading with little change, while Aramco shares rose 0.6 percent.

Since the start of the war, the kingdom has diverted more than 70 percent of its usual daily crude oil exports to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. Shipments from Yanbu have averaged four million barrels per day in recent weeks, compared to about 973,000 barrels per day a year ago.

Oil prices rose more than four percent on Friday to their highest level in more than a month.

The index in Bahrain fell 1.2 percent, the index in Kuwait fell 0.4 percent, and the index in Oman also declined by one percent.

Outside the Gulf region, Egypt's blue-chip index fell 0.7 percent.