Stocks in Qatar and Kuwait slumped on Monday as war across the Middle East raises risk premium and dampens investment sentiment.
QE Index, the main equities gauge in Doha slumped 3.34 per cent during early trade, dragged lower by transport, property and banking stocks.
QE All Share Banking and Financial Services Index slipped almost 4 per cent. The gauge representing property stocks slipped 3 per cent, while the transportation index of the exchange slumped almost 5 per cent.
Kuwait's All Share Index slumped more than 2.7 per cent, with Gulf Finance House dripping more than 6 per cent and budget carrier Jazeera Airways sliding 5.5 per cent.
Stocks on Qatar and Kuwait Exchanges are trading for the first time since the region’s latest conflict began on Saturday. Qatar remained closed on Sunday for a bank holiday. Kuwaiti regulator suspended trading on Sunday without citing a reason.
The other Gulf equity markets open for trading on Monday presented a mix picture.
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul, the biggest Arab bourse, gave up early gains to trade 0.13 per cent lower at 11.47am UAE time. The Tadawul All Share Index slumped more than 2 per cent on Sunday.
Stocks in Oman advanced 0.7 per cent, while Bahrain’s main stocks gauge was down marginally amid thin trade.
UAE remains closed
Stock exchanges in Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia operate Sunday to Thursday week, however, bourse in the UAE – Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market – follow the international working week of Monday to Friday.
On Sunday, the Capital Market Authority in the UAE said the stock markets in the country will remain shut until March 3 due to Iran's continuing strikes on the Emirates.
The ADX and DFM “will be closed on Monday, 2 March and Tuesday, 3 March 2026”, with the CMA continue to “monitor developments in the region and assess the situation on an ongoing basis, taking any further measures as necessary”, the regulator said in a statement on Sunday.
Official updates on the resumption of trading will be provided through the CMA, ADX and DFM's official communication channels, it added.
The Dubai Financial Services Authority, the regulator of Nasdaq Dubai, the securities exchange based in the emirate’s onshore financial on Monday said trading activity at the bourse will remain suspended until Tuesday.
Unusual move
The suspension of trading in the UAE's stock markets, among the biggest in the Middle East, is another precautionary measure taken by authorities amid Iran's unprecedented strikes on the country, which the Islamic Republic says, is in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks that began on Saturday.
The market capitalisation of the UAE exchanges’ stands at $1.1 trillion, the 19th highest market cap in the world, and carries 1.4 per cent weight on MSCI’s emerging markets benchmark, according to Bloomberg data.
Closure of market in the region is quite unusual, however it is not uncommon to for countries to temporarily shut markets during emergencies or turbulent times.
Turkey suspended trading for a week after an earthquake in 2023 and the market soared upon reopening. Russia halted its market for about a month in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine.
In Greece, the Athens Stock Exchange shut in 2015 for five weeks during the sovereign debt crisis and plunged when trading resumed, according to Bloomberg report.
