Major stock markets in the Gulf retreated in early trade on Wednesday, tracking Asian shares after a blast in Poland raised fears that the Russian-Ukraine conflict could spill over.
NATO member Poland said a Russian-made rocket killed two people in eastern Poland near Ukraine, and it summoned Russia's ambassador to Warsaw for an explanation after Moscow denied it was responsible.
Worries over a potential ratcheting up of geopolitical tensions spurred a drop of 1% in MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS).
Advertisement · Scroll to continue Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index (.TASI) dropped 1%, dragged down by a 0.9% fall in Retal Urban Development Co (4322.SE) and a 1.1% decline in oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE).
The kingdom recorded an 85% year-on-year slump in second-quarter foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, an investment ministry report showed on Tuesday.
FDI inflows were at 7.9 billion riyals ($2.10 billion) in the second quarter, compared with about 51.9 billion riyals in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, Abdullah Al Othaim Markets Co (4001.SE) surged 8% after the food retailer announced distribution of cash dividend of 7.5 riyals per share for the third quarter.
Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI) fell 1%, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties (EMAR.DU) down 1.1%.
In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI) lost 0.3%.
Crude prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - slid as COVID-19 cases in China continued to climb, sparking worries of lower fuel demand in the world's top crude importer that outweighed concerns about an escalation of geopolitical tensions and tighter oil supply.
