Saudi Arabia's stock market closed higher on Sunday, extending its rally into a fifth session, with energy stocks leading the advance, while Qatar's index edged lower as investor sentiment remained pressured by the escalating war in the region.
Oil prices surged on Friday with Brent trading over $90 per barrel for the first time since April 2024 as disruptions to global oil supplies continued because of the expanding U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab climbed 2.1%, with all of its constituents posting gains, led by energy and materials stocks.
Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab advanced 4.1%, its highest intraday percentage gain in nearly four years, and Yanbu National Petrochemical (2290.SE), opens new tab surged 10%.
"In a week defined by escalating regional geopolitical risks, the Saudi equity market has provided an outstanding financial resilience," said Ahmad Assiri, research strategist at Pepperstone.
"The initial selloff last Sunday proved short-lived as institutional and retail sentiment stabilised by midweek," he added. "The catalyst for this turnaround was, unsurprisingly, the energy sector. As geopolitical uncertainty drove global oil prices higher, the Saudi market's heavyweights most notably Saudi Aramco began to act as a natural hedge."
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Muscat's index climbed 2%, while Bahrain's index added 0.2%.
The Qatari benchmark .QSI, opens new tab slipped 0.1%, weighed down by a 1.4% drop in Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA), opens new tab and a 4.8% loss in Qatar Aluminium Manufacturing (QAMC.QA), opens new tab .
Kuwait's index .BKP, opens new tab eased 0.3%, with most stocks in negative territory.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation began cutting oil output on Saturday and declared force majeure, adding to earlier oil and gas reductions from and Qatar as the U.S.-Iran war blocked shipments from the Middle East for the eighth consecutive day.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab slid 1.6%, with most stocks declining. Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA), opens new tab lost 3.2%, while Fawry for Banking Technology (FWRY.CA), opens new tab slipped 4%.
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