The trade war shakes the Gulf and Qatar markets with the biggest daily loss in two years

Shaquille Ahmed and Maqsood Alam

(Reuters) – The Gulf stock markets tumbled on Monday, as Qatar suffered the biggest loss in two days in more than two years, with the resumption of the trade war between China and China, which led investors to safer badets.

Investors are also removing their positions before Eid al-Adha, which begins Sunday.

US President Donald Trump threatened last week to charge 10% of Chinese imports from China, which amount to $ 300 billion. China is committed to responding to emerging concerns about the global economy, which is already showing signs of slowing down.

This decision, which could dampen crude oil demand, has led to a drop in oil prices, which is a new source of concern for oil-dependent Middle East markets.

"China's retaliation in stopping some imports from the United States and allowing the yuan to fall against the dollar is impacting markets around the world," said Farajish Pandari, chief executive of Al Mal Capital. Middle East and North African equities are more often tied to global markets during periods of high volatility.

"For the Middle East, lower crude prices is another negative factor."

"It's not surprising that investors are withdrawing money before Eid's long vacations," he said.

The main index of Saudi Arabia was disappointed by the results of some companies and fell by 1.1%, all banks collapsed.

Saudi Fransi Bank lost 3.6% after a 4.4% drop in Q2 earnings due to higher Zakat allocations.

Shares of Walaa Cooperative Insurance fell 6.1% after the company had a loss before zakaah in the second quarter. The Serra Holding group lost 2.7% after the company announced a 35.9% decline in profits over the same period.

The Qatar index fell 4.2%, its biggest daily loss since June 5, 2017, reversing its gains for the year after losing for a fifth consecutive session.

The main stocks were the main pressure on the index, with Qatar National Bank down 6% and Qatar Petrochemical Industries 5.8%.

Gulf International Services fell 9.7% after the drilling services company announced a 15% drop in first-half profits.

The Dubai index has lost 2%, under the pressure of real estate and financial values. The Islamic Bank of Dubai fell by 2.1% and that of Emaar by 3.3%.

According to Emaar Properties, earnings in the second quarter declined 7.4% to 1.37 billion dirhams ($ 373 million), less than the forecast of 1.55 billion DH of EFG-Hermes.

The price of luxury residential real estate in Dubai fell by 1.9% in the first half of the year due to an oversupply, Reuters reported on Monday, citing the real estate consulting firm Saviles.

The real estate market in Dubai has been steadily declining since mid-2014 due to lack of appetite from foreign investors.

In Abu Dhabi, the index fell 1.9%. The first shares of Abu Dhabi dropped by 2.2%, while Etisalat lost 2.6%.

The Egyptian benchmark fell by 0.1% and Citadel Capital by 4.3%.

Here are the closing levels of the Middle East stock indexes:

– Saudi Arabia • The index fell 1.1% to 8465 points.

– Abu Dhabi: The index fell 1.9% to 5083 points.

– Dubai: The index fell 2% to 2,800 points.

– Qatar .. The index fell 4.2% to 9925 points.

– Egypt .. The index fell 0.1% to 13,599 points.

– Bahrain .. The index fell from 0.3 to 1545 points.

– Oman: The index rose 0.2% to 3,789 points.

– Kuwait .. The index has stabilized at 6727 points.

(Reuters)