Damaged cars lie by the ruins of a building in the northern Israeli town of Tamra. AFP
Damaged cars lie by the ruins of a building in the northern Israeli town of Tamra. AFP
Damaged cars lie by the ruins of a building in the northern Israeli town of Tamra. AFP
Damaged cars lie by the ruins of a building in the northern Israeli town of Tamra. AFP

Middle East markets dip as Israel and Iran continue to trade blows


Aarti Nagraj
  • English
  • Arabic

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Iran conflict

Middle East markets dipped on Sunday as Israel and Iran continued attacks on defence and energy centres, with no signs of let-up from either side.

The Saudi Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) closed 1.01 per cent down after dipping more in early trade.

The Qatar Stock Exchange closed down 3.2 per cent while Kuwait's main market settled 3.37 per cent lower. Both slumped more than 4 per cent during early trading on Sunday.

The Muscat Stock Exchange rallied slightly to end the day down 0.87 per cent, while Bahrain's bourse settled 0.81 per cent lower.

Egypt's EGX 30 Index also closed 4.65 per cent lower after paring earlier losses.

"It is no surprise that with an open-ended Israel-Iran shooting war underway that regional markets have been pounded too, as far as Egypt, which has seen gas supplies from Israel cut off," Hasnain Malik, head of emerging and frontier market investment strategy at Tellimer, told The National.

"Eastern European markets, however, provide an example of how quickly regional markets can recover if there are indications that the conflict will not spill-over."

In the absence of a widening of the scope of the current conflict, the immediate risks to GCC countries should remain contained, Goldman Sachs said in a report.

But it highlighted the Gulf's geographic proximity to the conflict and “the potential for disruption to regional tourism, as well as oil production and supply routes”, if the conflict expands.

Stocks in Tel Aviv also opened lower on Sunday in the first trading session since the start of waves of air, drones and missile strikes between Israel and Iran on Friday.

However, markets reversed earlier losses, with the Tel Aviv 35 index up 0.82 per cent and the broader TA-125 index 0.75 per cent higher.

Both Israel and Iran expanded their attacks overnight with tension escalating as the conflict enters the third day. It started when Israel launched, what it called a “pre-emptive” strike early on Friday, hitting nuclear and military sites inside Iran.

In Iran, the Shahran fuel depot was hit during an Israeli attack that began on Saturday night, setting storage tanks on fire, Iran’s Oil Ministry said. In the city’s south, Shahr Rey, one of the country’s largest oil refineries, was also struck, according to Iranian state media.

Israel's emergency services said at least eight people, including children, were killed in the overnight strikes, and about 200 were wounded.

Stock markets around the world plunged on Friday because of rising tension.

The Dow Jones Industrial Averaged tumbled 1.79 per cent. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.13 and 1.3 per cent, respectively, at the market closed on Friday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.89 per cent, South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.87 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.59 per cent.

In London, the FTSE 100 was down 0.39 per cent, while Paris’s CAC 40 fell 1.04 per cent and Frankfurt's DAX shed 1.07 cent.

In the Middle East, Dubai’s DFM general index closed 1.85 per cent lower, while Abu Dhabi’s FTSE ADX general index was down 1.47 per cent. Both markets are closed for trading on Sunday.

Stock markets are already under pressure due to the tariff-driven disruption and the intensifying Israel-Iran conflict is adding another layer of volatility to an fragile state.

“Global markets are grappling with the dual challenge of energy supply risk and policy uncertainty,” Iridium said in a note to investors on Sunday.

“Oil prices have surged, raising inflation concerns and prompting some tanker operators to reroute shipments.”

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Company Profile

Company name: NutriCal

Started: 2019

Founder: Soniya Ashar

Based: Dubai

Industry: Food Technology

Initial investment: Self-funded undisclosed amount

Future plan: Looking to raise fresh capital and expand in Saudi Arabia

Total Clients: Over 50

How to register as a donor

1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention

2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants

3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register. 

4) The campaign uses the hashtag  #donate_hope

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Key 2013/14 UAE Motorsport dates

October 4: Round One of Rotax Max Challenge, Al Ain (karting)

October 1: 1 Round One of the inaugural UAE Desert Championship (rally)

November 1-3: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Formula One)

November 28-30: Dubai International Rally

January 9-11: 24Hrs of Dubai (Touring Cars / Endurance)

March 21: Round 11 of Rotax Max Challenge, Muscat, Oman (karting)

April 4-10: Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (Endurance)

Updated: June 18, 2025, 11:44 AM`