Gulf shares slide after US and Iran exchange strikes, rattling regional markets
Dubai, Qatar, and Saudi benchmarks all opened lower as overnight airstrikes between Washington and Tehran sent investors scrambling for cover.
Gulf stock markets dropped across the board on September 2 after the United States launched airstrikes against Iranian targets overnight, prompting retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Tehran. The escalation, centered around strategic flashpoints in the Middle East, sent a familiar chill through regional equity markets that have been whipsawed by US-Iran tensions for months.
Dubai’s main index fell 0.6% in early trading. Qatar’s benchmark slipped 0.5%. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index dipped 0.3%.
What happened overnight
US forces conducted strikes on Iranian targets during the night of September 1-2. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded with ballistic missile attacks on a US base in Jordan and drone strikes targeting a US facility in Bahrain.
Much of the underlying tension centers on control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes daily.
The damage across Gulf exchanges
In Dubai, heavyweights bore the brunt. Emaar Properties fell 1.3%. Salik, the city’s toll-gate operator, dropped 1.1%.
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Qatar’s decline was led by Industries Qatar, which fell 1.2%, and Qatar National Bank, the region’s largest lender by assets, which slid 0.5%.
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul saw its losses concentrated in utilities, healthcare, and materials sectors. The 0.3% dip was the mildest of the three major Gulf benchmarks.
Prior US-Iran confrontations over the summer months produced regional index declines ranging from 0.3% to 1.5%. The September 2 sell-off sits comfortably within that range.