Trump tariffs and slumping oil drag Middle East stocks to lowest level since 2020
Stock markets in the Middle East suffered their worst rout in five years, dragged lower by slumping oil prices and investor concerns that the new "universal" tariffs imposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump could disrupt global trade and stunt economic growth.
In Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's largest economy, the benchmark Tadawul index slid by as much as 6.1 per cent on Sunday, its worst showing since 2020. It managed to regain some lost ground and was down 5 per cent at 1.10pm, UAE time.
Stocks slumped across sectors, more noticeably in energy as well as the real estate, professional services and consumer-related services sectors. Shares in Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil-exporting company, were down 4.75 per cent.
Oil prices had plunged to their lowest levels in more than three years on Friday, as China hit back against Mr Trump's tariffs with its additional levies on US goods. Opec+'s surprise decision to boost oil supply added to the heavy selling.
Bourses in Kuwait and Qatar also dropped by more than 5.5 per cent during trading.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market in the UAE are closed on Sundays. They shed 0.76 per cent and 1.51 per cent, respectively, at the end of trading on Friday.
The US imposed a sweeping "universal baseline tariff" of 10 per cent through an executive order on what Mr Trump called 'liberation day' on Wednesday. The tariff went into effect on Saturday.
The six-nation economic bloc of the GCC – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – along with Mena nations Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Morocco and Yemen, all received the minimum 10 per cent tariff. Syria was the hardest hit at 41 per cent, followed by Iraq (39 per cent), Libya (31 per cent), Algeria (30 per cent), Tunisia (28 per cent) and Jordan (20 per cent).
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