Gulf markets tumble as Israel-Iran conflict escalates
June 15 (Reuters) - Stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Sunday as Israel and Iran exchanged attacks, raising concerns about a potential broader Middle East conflict.
Israel said it had targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders in strikes that started on Friday, in what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
Iran responded by launching attacks on Israel and calling off Sunday's nuclear talks that the United States said were the only way to halt Israel's bombing.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab finished 1% lower as stocks fell across the board, weighed down by a 1.5% fall in Al Rajhi Bank (1120.SE), opens new tab and a 3.1% decrease in the country's biggest lender Saudi National Bank (1180.SE), opens new tab.
However, oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab advanced 1.8%.
Oil prices jumped on Friday and settled 7% higher as Israel and Iran traded air strikes, feeding investor worries that the combat could widely disrupt oil exports from the Middle East.
Israel late on Saturday attacked Iranian energy infrastructure including an offshore installation on the South Pars gas field which Iran shares with Qatar and is the source of most of the gas produced in Iran, stoking fears of potential disruption to the region's energy exports.
The Qatari benchmark (.QSI), opens new tab declined 3.2% - its biggest intraday fall since April - with all its constituents in negative territory including the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA), opens new tab, which concluded 4.2% lower.
Elsewhere, Qatar Gas Transport Nakilat (QGTS.QA), opens new tab dropped 3.3%.
Among other fallers, Kuwait's bourse (.BKP), opens new tab plummeted 4.6%, with Kuwait Finance House (KFH.KW), opens new tab losing 3.7%.
Shares in Jazeera Airways (JAZK.KW), opens new tab nosedived 18.4% as airlines avoided the airspace over most of the region.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab sank 4.6%, its biggest fall in about 14 months, dragged down by a 4.3% decline in Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA), opens new tab and a 12.4% plunge in investment bank EFG Holding (HRHO.CA), opens new tab.
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Gulf markets tumble as Israel-Iran conflict escalates
June 15 (Reuters) - Stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Sunday as Israel and Iran exchanged attacks, raising concerns about a potential broader Middle East conflict. Israel said it had targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders in strikes that started on Friday, in what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iran responded by launching attacks on Israel and calling off Sunday's nuclear talks that the United States said were the only way to halt Israel's bombing. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab finished 1% lower as stocks fell across the board, weighed down by a 1.5% fall in Al Rajhi Bank ( opens new tab and a 3.1% decrease in the country's biggest lender Saudi National Bank ( opens new tab. However, oil giant Saudi Aramco ( opens new tab advanced 1.8%. Oil prices jumped on Friday and settled 7% higher as Israel and Iran traded air strikes, feeding investor worries that the combat could widely disrupt oil exports from the Middle East. Israel late on Saturday attacked Iranian energy infrastructure including an offshore installation on the South Pars gas field which Iran shares with Qatar and is the source of most of the gas produced in Iran, stoking fears of potential disruption to the region's energy exports. The Qatari benchmark (.QSI), opens new tab declined 3.2% - its biggest intraday fall since April - with all its constituents in negative territory including the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank ( opens new tab, which concluded 4.2% lower. Elsewhere, Qatar Gas Transport Nakilat ( opens new tab dropped 3.3%. Among other fallers, Kuwait's bourse (.BKP), opens new tab plummeted 4.6%, with Kuwait Finance House ( opens new tab losing 3.7%. Shares in Jazeera Airways ( opens new tab nosedived 18.4% as airlines avoided the airspace over most of the region. Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab sank 4.6%, its biggest fall in about 14 months, dragged down by a 4.3% decline in Commercial International Bank ( opens new tab and a 12.4% plunge in investment bank EFG Holding ( opens new tab.
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