Much of Gulf may fall on Korea tensions, oil rebound may aid Saudi

DUBAI - 6 Sep 2017: Stock markets in most Gulf countries may slip on Wednesday as Asian stocks have tracked Wall Street’s slide overnight, but an overnight rebound in crude oil prices could support Saudi Arabia’s bourse, which has been closed for a week.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan is down 0.7 percent as tensions on the Korean Peninsula showed no signs of abating.

Qatar’s market, which has been closed since last Thursday for Eid holidays, may weaken on Wednesday because it is more exposed than most of the region to foreign fund flows. The index has been in a downtrend since late July.

But Brent oil closed 2 percent higher overnight at$53.38 per barrel and is trading slightly above last week’s price, when the Riyadh index closed for Eid holidays. Petrochemical shares, which make up roughly one-fifth of total Saudi market value, may therefore be firm on Wednesday.