Saudi markets lead losses as major Gulf slide

Saudi Arabia’s markets fell in early trade on Tuesday amid fears of oil shortages following attacks on two of the country’s key plants on Saturday that shut over 5 percent of global supply. Other major Gulf markets also slid.

Saudi Arabia has shut down its crude oil pipeline to Bahrain and Saudi Aramco informed PetroChina that its loadings of light crude oil for October will be delayed by about 10 days.

Furthermore, at least two refined product tankers that were due to load at Saudi Arabia’s Jubail port in mid to late September have been diverted.

Saudi Arabia’s index was down 0.5 percent, with financial and petrochemical shares weighing the most.

The Kingdom’s largest lender, National Commercial Bank, dropped 1.9 percent, while the Gulf’s largest petrochemical firm Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) declined 1.7 percent.

SABIC and other petrochemicals firms announced significant reductions in their feedstock supplies following the attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities.

The Abu Dhabi index was down 0.4 percent, with financial shares dragging the it down the most. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank fell 1.7 percent and Invest Bank plunged 9.6 percent.

In Dubai, the index edged down 0.2 percent with Dubai Islamic Bank losing 04 percent and Dubai’s largest listed developer Emaar Properties slipping 0.2 percent.

Qatar’s index slipped 0.1 percent, driven down by Barwa Real Estate which was down 0.9 percent, while the Gulf’s largest lender Qatar National Bank traded 0.3 percent lower.

Source: Reuters