Middle Eastern stocks tumble on regional tensions
By Ateeq Shariff
Aug 4 (Reuters) -Stock markets in the Middle East ended lower on Sunday amid tensions in the region following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed a top military commander from Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
A high-level Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday for an attempt to resume Gaza ceasefire negotiations, but returned home later in the day, the Egyptian airport authority and Israeli media said.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index .TASI slid 2.4%, dragged down by a 10% plunge in aluminium products manufacturer Al Taiseer Group 4143.SE and a 2.7% drop in Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE.
Among other losers, oil giant Saudi Aramco 2222.SE was down 1.3%.
Hezbollah forces on Friday resumed rocket and artillery attacks against Israel, ending a lull along the border following Israel's killing of the Lebanese group's military commander in Beirut.
The Qatari benchmark .QSI lost 0.7%, with petrochemicals maker Industries Qatar IQCD.QA falling 0.7%.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index .EGX30 declined 2.9%, with all the constituents of the index in negative territory including E-Finance for Digital and Financial Investment EFIH.CA, which was down 8%.
Separately, Egypt's net foreign assets (NFAs) stayed positive for a second straight month in June having been deeply negative for more than two years, central bank data showed.
SAUDI ARABIA | .TASI fell 2.4% to 11,754 |
QATAR | .QSI dropped 0.7% to 10,057 |
EGYPT | .EGX30 lost 2.9% to 28,504 |
BAHRAIN | .BAX retreated 1% to 1,951 |
OMAN | .MSX30 eased 0.4% to 4,647 |
KUWAIT | .BKP declined 2.2% to 7,695 |
Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by David Holmes
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