Major Gulf markets gain despite caution over Iran-US negotiations

Major Gulf stock markets rose in early trading on Wednesday, even as sentiment remained cautious amid concerns that talks between Iran and the United States could break down.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Doha on Tuesday for what the White House called “high-level” talks. However, Iran and the host nation, Qatar, said the discussions would take place through mediators rather than in direct meetings with Iranian officials.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani reaffirmed Doha’s ongoing mediation efforts and its support for all negotiation tracks arising from the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, according to Qatar’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index gained 0.5%, with the country’s biggest lender Saudi National Bank rising 1.3%.

Oil major Saudi Aramco added 0.4%.

Meanwhile, tanker traffic through the strategically vital waterway Strait of Hormuz has begun to recover, with Vance saying oil flows through the strait had returned to pre-war levels.

Dubai’s main share index rose 0.4%, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties putting on 1%.

In Abu Dhabi, the index was up 0.1%.

The United Arab Emirates raised crude oil and condensate exports to a record in June, preliminary ship-tracking data from Kpler and Vortexa showed, weeks after the Gulf producer quit OPEC.

The surprise decision to end nearly 60 years of membership in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on May 1, during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, was aimed at unlocking greater value from its resources by freeing output from the group’s quota system.

The Qatari index edged 0.1% higher in choppy trade.