By Ateeq Shariff
Most Gulf bourses ended lower on Sunday as fresh drone attacks and uncertainty over Iran peace talks weighed on investor sentiment, overshadowing relief over the first Qatari LNG tanker crossing the Strait of Hormuz since the war began.
The crossing came after nearly 48 hours of relative calm, though Kuwait reported hostile drones in its airspace and the UAE cited fresh attacks from Iran after weeks of relative quiet under a U.S.-announced ceasefire.
In Qatar, the index QSE:GNRI dropped 0.5%, with the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank QSE:QNBK losing 1.5%.
Kuwait's shares KSE:BOURSA retreated 0.5% and Bahrain BAHRAIN:BHBX was down 0.4%.
However, Saudi Arabia's benchmark index TADAWUL:TASI gained 0.8%, with Al Rajhi Bank TADAWUL:1120 rising 1.7%.
Oil major Saudi Aramco TADAWUL:2222 rose 0.8%, after reporting a 25% rise in first-quarter profit, as its East-West pipeline ran at full capacity to offset disruptions from U.S.-Iran tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index EGX:EGX30 advanced 1.9%, as most of its constituents were in positive territory including Commercial International Bank EGX:COMI, which was up 1.3%.
Egypt will receive an additional $300 million from the World Bank to help address fallout from the Iran war, the lender's Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti director, Stephane Guimbert, said on Saturday.
Saudi Arabia
TADAWUL:TASI rose 0.8% to 11,115
Qatar
QSE:GNRI fell 0.5% to 10,664
Egypt
EGX:EGX30 advanced 1.9% to 54,629
Bahrain
BAHRAIN:BHBX dropped 0.4% to 1,934
Oman
(.MSX30) eased 0.2% to 8,331
Kuwait
KSE:BOURSA declined 0.5% to 9,381