Gulf markets drop as political uncertainty rises

Most stock markets in the Gulf slipped on Monday amid political uncertainty in the region after Iran's president died in a helicopter crash and Saudi Arabia's crown prince postponed a trip to Japan, citing issues with the king's health.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index TASI dropped 0.6% with most of its constituents posting losses, led by IT, real estate and finance stocks.

Saudi National Bank 1180, the kingdom's largest lender, slipped 2% and Saudi Basic Industries 2010, one of the world's biggest petrochemical companies, declined 2.3%.

The Qatari benchmark index GNRI eased 0.3%, pressured by a 1.2% drop in Qatar National Bank QNBK, the region's largest lender and a 0.5% loss in Industries Qatar IQCD.

Meanwhile, Qatar recorded a budget surplus of 2 billion riyals ($548.9 million) in the first quarter of 2024, down from 19.7 billion riyals a year earlier, the finance ministry said on Sunday.

In Abu Dhabi, the benchmark index FADGI fell marginally with conglomerate International Holding Company IHC shedding 0.4%, while emirate's largest developer, Aldar Properties ALDAR climbed 3.5%.

Among other gainers, ADNOC Distribution ADNOCDIST and ADNOC Logistics ADNOCLS rose 1.7% and 3.8%, respectively, after their parent company, oil major Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said it had acquired an 11.7% stake in NextDecade's NEXT Rio Grande liquefied natural gas export facility in Texas and entered a supply agreement.

Dubai's benchmark index DFMGI was little changed as gains in real estate, communications and industry offset losses in utilities, consumer discretionary and finance stocks.

The blue-chip developer Emaar Properties EMAAR advanced 2.3%, while National Central Cooling TABREED and Emirates NBD EMIRATESNBD, the emirate's largest lender, dropped 5.4% and 0.9%, respectively.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index EGX30 was down 0.3% after two straight sessions of gains with Eastern Company EAST dropping 4.8% and El Sewedy Electric SWDY falling 2.9%.