(Reuters) – Major stock markets in the Gulf were mixed in early trade on Monday amid simmering tensions in the region and weakening oil prices.
Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes late on Sunday with multiple explosions heard across the Lebanese capital, as Israel prepared to attack sites linked to the financial operations of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and told people to leave those areas immediately.
Israel’s military response in Gaza has left more than 42,500 people dead and has made most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people homeless, Palestinian officials say.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index gained 0.7%, on course to snap two sessions of losses, with Al Rajhi Bank rising 1.3% and the country’s biggest lender Saudi National Bank was up 1.2%.
Dubai’s main share index eased 0.1%, hit by a 0.5% fall in top lender Emirates NBD and a 1.1% slide in budget airliner Air Arabia.
In Abu Dhabi, the index added 0.1%.
Separately, United Arab Emirates’ Lulu Group International, which runs one of the Middle East’s biggest hypermarket chains, plans to sell a 25% stake in its Abu Dhabi initial public offering, Khaleej Times reported on Monday, citing a prospectus.
The Qatari benchmark lost 0.3%, with Qatar Islamic Bank falling 0.6%.
Oil prices – a catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets – edged up in Asian trading, following a more-than-7% drop last week on worries about demand in China, the world’s top oil importer, and an easing of concerns about potential supply disruptions in the Middle East.
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
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