DUBAI: Most Gulf stock markets ended subdued on Sunday as investors awaited clarity on Oman’s proposed deal for new shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran said on Sunday that a deal with Oman to designate new shipping lanes in the waterway was in its final stages, but said it would reopen only after the United States met further conditions.
A US official told Reuters on Friday that the agreement was close and could reopen the strait, which handled about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before Iran closed it after US and Israeli attacks on February 28.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index added 0.1 percent, helped by a 1.9 percent rise in Saudi Arabian Mining Company. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it targeted Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery on Sunday, two days after Saudi Arabia signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan amid rising regional tensions stemming from the US-Israeli war on Iran.
In Qatar, the index eased 0.1 percent, hit by a 0.9 percent fall in petrochemical maker Industries Qatar.
On Friday, Brent crude futures settled at USD83.55 a barrel, gaining USD1.06, or 1.3 percent.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index, however, gained 0.8 percent.