Stock markets in the Gulf fell sharply on Sunday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s drastic trade tariffs and countermeasures from China stoked fears of a trade war and the prospect of a global recession.
China’s finance ministry said on Friday it will impose additional 34% tariffs on all U.S. goods from April 10 as a countermeasure to sweeping tariffs imposed by Trump.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index plunged 6.8% – its biggest intraday fall since May 2020 – dragged down by a 5.9% decline in Al Rajhi Bank and a 6.8% retreat in the country’s largest lender Saudi National Bank.
Among other fallers, oil giant Saudi Aramco was down 5.3%, its biggest daily slide since the early days of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
Oil prices – a catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets – plummeted 7% on Friday to a three-year low as China’s tariff hikes on U.S. goods intensified the trade war, and as OPEC+ unexpectedly sped up oil output hikes.
Trump’s Wednesday tariff announcement shook global stock markets, wiping out $5 trillion in value for S&P 500 index companies by Friday’s close, a record two-day decline.
China said on Saturday “the market has spoken” in rejecting Trump’s tariffs, and called on Washington for “equal-footed consultation” after global markets’ dramatic reaction to the trade levies, which drew Chinese retaliation.
In Qatar, the index – which resumed trading after a five-session Eid break – tumbled 4.2%, with petrochemical maker Industries Qatar diving 8.2% and the Gulf’s biggest lender Qatar National Bank down 4%.
Elsewhere, Kuwait’s stock market ended 5.7% lower.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index dropped 3.3%, with Talaat Moustafa Group closing 4.5% lower.
SAUDI ARABIA down 6.8% to 11,077
QATAR declined 4.2% to 9,800
EGYPT lost 3.3% to 30,640
BAHRAIN dropped 1% to 1,919
OMAN fell 2.6% to 4,253
KUWAIT slid 5.7% to 8,106
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey)