Gulf shares slide after US and Iran exchange strikes, rattling regional markets

Gulf stock markets dropped across the board on September 2 after the United States launched airstrikes against Iranian targets overnight, prompting retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Tehran. The escalation, centered around strategic flashpoints in the Middle East, sent a familiar chill through regional equity markets that have been whipsawed by US-Iran tensions for months. Dubai’s main index fell 0.6% in early trading. Qatar’s benchmark slipped 0.5%. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index dipped 0.3%. What happened overnight US forces conducted strikes on Iranian targets during the night of September 1-2. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded with ballistic missile attacks on a US base in Jordan and drone strikes targeting a US facility in Bahrain. Much of the underlying tension centers on control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes daily. The damage across Gulf exchanges In Dubai, heavyweights bore the brunt. Emaar Properties fell 1.3%. Salik, the city’s toll-gate operator, dropped 1.1%. Qatar’s decline was led by Industries Qatar, which fell 1.2%, and Qatar National Bank, the region’s largest lender by assets, ...