(Bloomberg) \u2014 Saudi Arabian and Egyptian stocks fell on Sunday, in one of the first signs of the US-Iran war hitting the region\u2019s financial markets.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia\u2019s Tadawul All Share Index fell 2.2%, the biggest daily loss since April and reversing its gains for the year. The drop would have been bigger had it not been for oil-producing giant Aramco, which makes up about 16% of the exchange\u2019s weighting, climbing 3.4%. The company\u2019s move up was because crude prices are likely to jump when global markets open in Asia.<\/p>\n
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Egypt\u2019s main index dropped 2.5%, extending its slump since mid-February, when the prospects of a US-Iran war rose, to more than 8%.<\/p>\n
Omani and Bahraini equities also weakened. Kuwait\u2019s stock exchange halted trading as a \u201cprecautionary measure.\u201d Israel\u2019s market wasn\u2019t open on Sunday as it recently switched to Monday-Friday trading.<\/p>\n Egypt has been among the countries whose financial assets have been hardest hit by the soaring tensions in the past month. The Egyptian pound was among the world\u2019s five-worst performing currencies last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It weakened to around 48.8 per dollar on Sunday, its lowest level since mid-2025.<\/p>\n Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in late 2023, Egypt\u2019s suffered from shippers avoiding the Suez Canal, a big source of foreign revenue for the Arab country.<\/p>\n Another blow came from Israel\u2019s decision to cut off natural gas supplies to Egypt after the Jewish state and the US struck Iran on Saturday. The Islamic Republic unleashed a wave of retaliatory attacks across the Gulf and on Israel.<\/p>\n Cairo, which previously received about 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day from Israel, is now seeking to bring forward some liquefied natural gas cargoes and buy more shipments for the summer, when demand peaks, Bloomberg reported.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all a reminder of how Egypt \u2014 despite its distance from Iran and its status as a regional linchpin \u2014 is particularly vulnerable to turmoil across the broader Middle East. Those factors helped Cairo secure a $57 billion global bailout in early 2024 as the Gaza war piled on pressures.<\/p>\n What seemed like a slow revival of Suez transits after an October ceasefire in Gaza is now at risk. France\u2019s CMA CGM SA, the world\u2019s third-largest container line, on Sunday said it had suspended passage through the canal.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n