UAE, GCC stocks plunge; investors to take wait-watch approach

Most of the Gulf stock markets fell on Wednesday in line with a decline in global markets, after Iran launched a missile attack on US military bases in Iraq.
Analysts expect the volatility to linger in the equity market in the coming session, but said that it could subside as there were no causalities in the attack. However, investors still remain cautious and are most likely to take a wait-and-watch approach.
After the launch of the missile attack, Tehran said that it doesn't want war and that its strikes "concluded" its response to the US air strike, helping settle down surges in oil and gold prices.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index declined 1.2 per cent, with its largest lender Emirates NBD shedding 2.3 per cent, and Emaar Properties losing 1.2 per cent. In Abu Dhabi, the index retreated 0.7 per cent, driven down by a 1.1 per cent fall in the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank, and a 0.6 per cent ease in telecoms firm Etisalat.
In Saudi Arabia, Tadawul fell 0.9 per cent, driven down by banking stocks. Saudi Aramco also fell for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday by 0.4 per cent to 34.2 riyals. Its shares have fallen nearly 12 per cent from a high of 38.70 riyals on December 12, 2019. But the share price is still above the IPO price of 32 riyals, which valued the company at $1.7 trillion.
Among other regional indices, the Qatari index fell 0.4 per cent, Oman slipped 0.1 per cent, and Bahrain dipped 0.4 per cent. However, Egypt bucked the trend and jumped 2.5 per cent.
Nigel Green, founder and CEO of deVere Group, advised investors to remain "cautious and consistent" in these uncertain times. "Geopolitical tensions are certainly heightening, and this always creates uncertainty - something which markets typically loathe as it becomes more difficult to know where things are headed. In other words, they can't price uncertainty. In many regards, the US-Iran situation has now surpassed the US-China trade war as the biggest risk to financial markets. This has been reflected in the current volatility."
The US-Iran conflict also took a toll on equity markets in Asia and Europe.
In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.6 per cent to 23,204.76 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.9 per cent to 28,087.92. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.2 per cent to 3,066.89 and South Korea's Kospi retreated 1.1 per cent to 2,151.31. India's Sensex shed 0.2 per cent to 40,770.06. In early trading in Europe, London's FTSE 100 lost 0.6 per cent to 7,525.48 and Frankfurt's DAX shed 0.7 per cent to 13,134.26. France's CAC 40 lost 0.5 per cent.
- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com