By Amna Mariyam
Gulf equities ended mixed on Tuesday, with investors exercising caution over U.S. trade policies after President Donald Trump announced steep import levies on several trading partners and pushed the tariff deadline to August 1.
While Gulf economies were spared from immediate measures, Trump had earlier announced plans to impose an additional 10% tariff on countries aligning with the "anti-American policies" of the BRICS bloc, which includes the UAE. Saudi Arabia, while not a BRICS member, attended a BRICS meeting in April.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index TADAWUL:TASI dropped 0.5%, ending a four-day winning streak as most sectors closed in red. ACWA Power Company TADAWUL:2082 slid 3.4%, while Al Rajhi Bank TADAWUL:1120 fell 0.2%.
Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets -retreated after gaining nearly 2% in the previous session on tariff concerns and a higher-than-expected increase in OPEC+ output planned for August.
Dubai's main share index DFM:DFMGI lost 0.1%, after reaching a 17-year peak the previous day, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties DFM:EMAAR dropping 0.7%.
In Abu Dhabi, the index ADX:FADGI was marginally up.
Qatar's benchmark index QSE:GNRI added 0.3%, supported by a 1.1% rise in the Qatar Islamic Bank QSE:QIBK.
Meanwhile, Egypt's stock exchange said it had suspended trading on Tuesday, citing ongoing disruptions affecting brokerage firms' ability to communicate efficiently across the trading system, a day after a fire broke out in a telecoms data centre in Cairo.
SAUDI ARABIA
TADAWUL:TASI dropped 0.5% to 11,294
ABU DHABI
ADX:FADGI added 0.1% to 10,012
DUBAI
DFM:DFMGI eased 0.1% to 5,794
QATAR
QSE:GNRI firmed 0.3% to 10,834
BAHRAIN
BAHRAIN:BHBX was up 0.7% to 1,961
OMAN
(.MSX30) slipped 0.5% to 4,554
KUWAIT
(.BKP) increased 0.2% to 9,213