DUBAI: Gulf bourses ended lower on Thursday as bank stocks tumbled, with an escalation of the conflict in Yemen and stalled peace efforts hitting sentiment.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Aden airport on Wednesday, Yemeni government forces said. The group had earlier warned people to evacuate the facility as fighting escalated in the impoverished country.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index declined 1 percent, with a 1.1 percent drop in Al Rajhi Bank and a 1.9 percent decrease in the country’s biggest lender Saudi National Bank.
Meanwhile, oil major Saudi Aramco was down 0.3 percent.
Despite Thursday’s losses, the Saudi benchmark posted a weekly gain, snapping an eight-week losing streak.
Elsewhere, Dubai’s main share index fell 0.5 percent, weighed down by a 4.9 percent slide in budget airliner Air Arabia.
In Abu Dhabi, the index lost 1.2 percent, with the United Arab Emirates’ biggest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank tumbling 4.2 percent despite reporting a 6 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, driven by strong growth in net interest income.
The Qatari index fell 0.7 percent.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index gained 0.6 percent.