Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf markets retreat on U.S. bank's contagion fears

Mideast Stocks: Most Gulf markets retreat on U.S. bank's contagion fears

Most Gulf stock markets fell in early trade on Tuesday, as fears of contagion risks from U.S.-based Silicon Valley Bank's (SVB) failure continued to drag financial markets.

U.S. inflation data due later in the day is likely to inject more volatility, even if investors see the Federal Reserve prioritising financial stability.

Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the dollar and Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates usually mirror any monetary policy change in the United States.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index eased 0.2%, hit by a 2.2% drop in petrochemical maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp as the stock went ex-dividend, while oil behemoth Saudi Aramco was down 1.2%.

Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - fell more than $1, extending the previous day's slide, as SVB collapse rocked financial markets and sparked fear about a fresh financial crisis.

Dubai's main share index dropped 1.2%, on course to extend losses for a fifth session, weighed down by a 1.7% decline in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties.

Emirates NBD Bank and sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank fell 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively.

Abu Dhabi's index slipped 1%, with the United Arab Emirates' biggest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank losing 1.3%.

ADNOC Gas retreated 1.1%, a day after surging more than 18% over its listing price in its market debut.

ADNOC Gas' shares closed at 2.81 dirhams ($0.7651) apiece, versus its initial public offering price of 2.37 dirhams.

The Qatari index lost 1.1%, as almost all the stocks on the index were in negative territory including the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank, which was down 2%.

However, the Omani index bucked the trend to trade 0.5% higher.

Abraj Energy Services - the oil and gas drilling business of state energy company OQ - jumped more than 14% in its market debut.