MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf stocks slip as fresh drone activity clouds peace hopes

ALRAJHI
Tadawul All Shares Index

ALRAJHI

1120.SA

0.00

Tadawul All Shares Index

TASI.SA

0.00

By Ateeq Shariff

- Most Gulf bourses ended lower on Sunday as fresh drone attacks and uncertainty over Iran peace talks weighed on investor sentiment, overshadowing relief over the first Qatari LNG tanker crossing the Strait of Hormuz since the war began.

The crossing came after nearly 48 hours of relative calm, though Kuwait reported hostile drones in its airspace and the UAE cited fresh attacks from Iran after weeks of relative quiet under a U.S.-announced ceasefire.

In Qatar, the index .QSI dropped 0.5%, with the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank QNBK.QA losing 1.5%.

Kuwait's shares .BKP retreated 0.5% and Bahrain .BAX was down 0.4%.

However, Saudi Arabia's benchmark index .TASI gained 0.8%, with Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE rising 1.7%.

Oil major Saudi Aramco 2222.SE rose 0.8%, after reporting a 25% rise in first-quarter profit, as its East-West pipeline ran at full capacity to offset disruptions from U.S.-Iran tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index .EGX30 advanced 1.9%, as most of its constituents were in positive territory including Commercial International Bank COMI.CA, which was up 1.3%.

Egypt will receive an additional $300 million from the World Bank to help address fallout from the Iran war, the lender's Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti director, Stephane Guimbert, said on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia

.TASI rose 0.8% to 11,115

Qatar

.QSI fell 0.5% to 10,664

Egypt

.EGX30 advanced 1.9% to 54,629

Bahrain

.BAX dropped 0.4% to 1,934

Oman

.MSX30 eased 0.2% to 8,331

Kuwait

.BKP declined 0.5% to 9,381