Most Gulf markets ease as regional tensions rise
Oct 9 (Reuters) -Most stock markets in the Gulf were subdued in early trade on Wednesday with conflict in the Middle East the most pressing concern, although the Qatari index was buoyed by Qatar National Bank.
An escalation of fighting in Lebanon and the ongoing one-year-old war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has raised fears of a wider Middle East conflict.
The downturn in Gulf markets began after Iran launched a missile barrage on Israel on Oct. 1. Israel has sworn to retaliate and is weighing its options, with Iran's oil facilities considered a possible target.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index .TASI dropped 0.3%, with Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE losing 0.4% and the country's biggest lender Saudi National Bank 1180.SE falling 0.4%.
Among other fallers, oil giant Saudi Aramco 2222.SE was down 0.2%.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, which fell 4.6% overnight, steadied at $77.88 a barrel.
Dubai's main share index .DFMGI lost 0.2%, hit by a 0.6% slide in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties EMAR.DU and a 1.7% decline in Ajman Bank AJBNK.DU.
In Abu Dhabi, the index .FTFADGI eased 0.2%.
The Qatari benchmark .QSI, however, advanced 0.6%, led by a 1.1% rise in Qatar National Bank (QNB) QNBK.QA.
QNB, the Gulf's biggest lender, made a net profit of 4.5 billion riyals ($1.23 billion) in the third quarter, up 5.4% from a year earlier, Reuters calculated, beating analyst estimates.
Analysts were expecting a quarterly profit of 3.9 billion riyals, according to LSEG data.
($1 = 3.6450 Qatar riyals)
Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru
Editing by Ros Russell
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