Gulf markets react to Iran strikes while Kuwait halts trading

• Tadawul down 4.8% on Sunday opening
• Recovered some losses later
• Kuwait cites ‘exceptional circumstances’

Saudi Arabia’s main stock market fell steeply on opening on Sunday morning, after Israeli and US strikes on Iran triggered retaliation by Tehran across the region.

The Tadawul All-Shares Index opened 4.8 percent down on its closing price at the end of last week. The largest market in the region had regained some of those losses by mid-morning.

In Kuwait the stock exchange stayed shuttered on Sunday, with the Capital Markets Authority citing “exceptional circumstances currently faced by the country”.

Boursa Kuwait was the first Gulf stock exchange to postpone opening. The exchanges in Oman and Bahrain opened as usual. There was no significant change to the MSX30, which tracks the largest companies on the Muscat exchange, or the Bahrain Bourse All Share Index. 

Qatar Stock Exchange, which usually opens on Sundays, remains closed for a public holiday. It will open for trading on Monday, the exchange said in a statement.

The Dubai and Abu Dhabi bourses do not open on Sundays. Trading will begin on Monday as usual.

The Saudi Exchange is by far the largest in the GCC, with a market capitalisation of more than $2.4 trillion.

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, is listed on the exchange. Its shares did not move significantly between close on Thursday and open on Sunday.

Hostilities in the region, along with Iran’s reported demands that shipping cease in the Hormuz Strait, are likely to push up oil prices when markets open on Monday.

About one-fifth of the world’s oil exports passes through the chokepoint, much of it coming from Aramco.

The US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Saturday, heightening worries about energy supply, trade disruptions and geopolitical risk premiums for stock markets.

Iranian state media has confirmed that the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the airstrikes. 

Tehran has fired missiles and drones towards all six GCC states, where US military bases are located, raising fears of a wider Gulf conflict. 

Kuwait has temporarily closed its airspace to all flights as a precautionary measure.

AGBI will update this story as it develops