March 14 (Reuters) - Most Gulf stock markets fell in
early trade on Tuesday, as fears of contagion risks from
U.S.-based Silicon Valley Bank's (SVB) failure continued to drag
financial markets.
U.S. inflation data due later in the day is likely to inject
more volatility, even if investors see the Federal Reserve
prioritising financial stability.
Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the dollar and Qatar,
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates usually mirror any
monetary policy change in the United States.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index eased 0.2%, hit by a
2.2% drop in petrochemical maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp as the stock went ex-dividend, while oil behemoth
Saudi Aramco was down 1.2%.
Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets
- fell more than $1, extending the previous day's slide, as SVB
collapse rocked financial markets and sparked fear about a fresh
financial crisis. Dubai's main share index dropped 1.2%, on course to
extend losses for a fifth session, weighed down by a 1.7%
decline in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties .
Emirates NBD Bank and sharia-compliant lender
Dubai Islamic Bank fell 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively.
Abu Dhabi's index slipped 1%, with the United
Arab Emirates' biggest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank losing 1.3%.
ADNOC Gas retreated 1.1%, a day after surging
more than 18% over its listing price in its market debut.
ADNOC Gas' shares closed at 2.81 dirhams ($0.7651) apiece,
versus its initial public offering price of 2.37 dirhams.
The Qatari index lost 1.1%, as almost all the stocks
on the index were in negative territory including the Gulf's
biggest lender Qatar National Bank , which was down 2%.
However, the Omani index bucked the trend to trade
0.5% higher.
Abraj Energy Services - the oil and gas drilling
business of state energy company OQ - jumped more than 14% in
its market debut.
($1 = 3.6726 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi
Aich)
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