Gulf stocks slip as fresh drone activity clouds peace hopes

DUBAI: Most Gulf bourses ended lower on Sunday as fresh drone attacks and uncertainty over Iran peace talks weighed on investor sentiment, overshadowing relief over the first Qatari LNG tanker crossing the Strait of Hormuz since the war began.

The crossing came after nearly 48 hours of relative calm, though Kuwait reported hostile drones in its airspace and the UAE cited fresh attacks from Iran after weeks of relative quiet under a US-announced ceasefire.

In Qatar, the index dropped 0.5 percent, with the Gulf’s biggest lender Qatar National Bank losing 1.5 percent.

Kuwait’s shares retreated 0.5 percent and Bahrain was down 0.4 percent.

However, Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index gained 0.8 percent, with Al Rajhi Bank rising 1.7 percent.

Oil major Saudi Aramco rose 0.8 percent, after reporting a 25 percent rise in first-quarter profit, as its East-West pipeline ran at full capacity to offset disruptions from US-Iran tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index advanced 1.9 percent, as most of its constituents were in positive territory including Commercial International Bank , which was up 1.3 percent.

Egypt will receive an additional USD300 million from the World Bank to help address fallout from the Iran war, the lender’s Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti director, Stephane Guimbert, said on Saturday.