Gulf equities retreated in early trade on Monday, fueled by fears that the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran could unravel after the U.S. seized an Iranian cargo vessel. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained largely suspended.
\nHopes for a more lasting peace in the region dimmed after Iranian state media reported that Tehran had rejected fresh talks and would not participate in a second round of negotiations the U.S. had hoped to convene before the ceasefire expires on Tuesday.
\nNow in its eighth week, the conflict has triggered a historic shock to global energy supplies, sending oil prices soaring as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed.
\nDubai’s main share index (.DFMGI) dropped 1.3%, impacted by a 1.4% fall in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties (EMAR.DU) and a 2.2% slide in toll operator Salik Co (SALIK.DU).
\nShares in Abu Dhabi (.FTFADGI) lost 0.3%.
\nThe United Arab Emirates has reportedly begun talks with the United States on a potential financial backstop should the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran deepen the Gulf nation’s crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
\nThe Qatari index (.QSI) lost 0.4%, with Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA) dropping 1.1%.
\nTrump had earlier warned that the United States would destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants if Tehran refused his terms, repeating threats he had made throughout the war.
\nIran, meanwhile, stated that any U.S. attack on its civilian infrastructure would trigger strikes on power stations and desalination plants in neighboring Gulf Arab states.
\nSaudi Arabia’s benchmark index (.TASI) edged 0.3% lower in choppy trade, weighed down by a 0.4% fall in Al Rajhi Bank (1120.SE). Conversely, Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) gained 0.3%.
\nBrent crude futures jumped about 7% to $96.85 a barrel in early Asian trading, as investors grappled with conflicting messages about the war.
\n#USIranTensions #MiddleEastMarkets #GulfEquities #StraitOfHormuz #OilPrices #GeopoliticalRisk #EnergyCrisis #StockMarket #UAE #IranCrisis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gulf equities retreated in early trade on Monday, fueled by fears that the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran could unravel after the U.S. seized an Iranian cargo vessel. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained largely suspended. Hopes for a more lasting peace in the region dimmed after Iranian state media reported that Tehran had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}