Middle East stock markets suffer losses, dragged down by US-Iran tensions

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) as well as other key Middle East stock exchanges were down on Sunday after the killing of Iran’s top general triggered a new round of tensions between the US and Iran.

The TASI slumped around 2 percent and was below 8,230 points on Sunday morning. Shares of energy giant Saudi Aramco fell to the lowest level since its record IPO last month, trading at 34.55 riyals per share. 

Other key equity markets in the region also fell sharply. The major stocks of the Dubai Financial Market were down more than three percent after losing nearly 85 points, while the Qatar Exchange Index slid nearly 2.1 percent and shares included in Kuwait’s premier index fell more than four percent. The overall index of the 30 most highly capitalized and liquid stocks traded on the Egyptian Exchange also slumped, falling nearly 2.5 percent.

The drop comes as Washington and Tehran continued to exchange threats on Sunday, days after Quds Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq.

Earlier, the US stock market was shaken by the consequences of the attack, finishing the first trading days of 2020 with the biggest losses in a month. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 233.92 points or 0.8 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell more than 0.7 percent and nearly 0.8 percent respectively.

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