Following Houthi Attacks on Saudi Red Sea Oil Sites, Most Gulf Markets Relax

A day after Saudi-backed forces bombed the Houthis and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis assaulted Saudi oil installations at two Red Sea ports, extending the Gulf War to a second front, most Gulf financial markets finished lower on Sunday.

The U.S. ambassador to the UN told Fox News on Sunday that President Donald Trump was giving Iran negotiations “some ⁠space” during a weekend halt in American operations against Iran.

A 4% decline in Banque Saudi Fransi (1050.SE), which opened a new tab as the lender traded ex-dividend, or without the right to collect the next scheduled dividend payment, caused Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index (.TASI) to lose 0.3%.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), among other losers, opened a new tab with a 0.9% decline.

An oil ship struck a naval mine and exploded in the vital Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency. The investigation states that the ship strayed off Iran’s designated shipping route, which led to the incident.

A Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea was denounced by Iran’s Foreign Ministry, which said on Saturday that it caused an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another.

In Qatar, Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA) lost 0.8%, while the index (.QSI), opens new tab, was down 0.3%.

Outside of the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab, down 1% because the majority of its components were in negative territory, including Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA), opens new tab, which fell 0.9%.