Gulf markets declined amid focus on the Iran truce holding and Trump's visit to China.
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From Atiq Sharif
May 13 (Reuters) - Gulf stock markets closed lower on Wednesday as investors monitored a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East and the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bisent said the two presidents would discuss the Iran war, and urged China to "join us in this international process" to open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.
Although Beijing secretly tried to persuade Iran to hold talks with the United States in Pakistan last month, analysts say it will not act solely at Washington's behest.
The index in Saudi Arabia fell 0.2 percent, with shares of Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) declining 2.1 percent.
Stock markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries showed mixed performance throughout the day. Daniel Takieddine, co-founder and CEO of Skylinks Capital Group, said the focus may shift to the US-China summit and its potential impact on the region, given the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The index in Dubai fell 0.4 percent, with leading real estate developer Emaar Properties dropping 0.9 percent.
In Abu Dhabi, the index edged up slightly by 0.1 percent, with ADNOC Drilling rising 0.8 percent after the company’s chief financial officer told Reuters on Tuesday that the company was ready to help boost the UAE’s oil production capacity beyond its current target of five million barrels per day by 2027.
A unit of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced on Wednesday that one of its tankers, which was attacked by Iranian drones last week, leaked a small amount of fuel off the coast of Oman, highlighting the environmental risks stemming from Iran's war.
The Qatari index closed down 0.5 percent, with Qatar National Bank shares falling 1.1 percent.
The index rose 0.3 percent in Bahrain and 0.1 percent in Kuwait, but fell 1.3 percent in Oman.
Outside the Gulf region, Egypt's benchmark index fell 1.2 percent as most of the listed stocks declined.