Gulf stock markets fell on Sunday as investors weighed the risk of a fresh confrontation between the United States and Iran, but Qatar’s market moved sharply in the opposite direction.
Across the region, traders have been bracing for the possibility that President Donald Trump could resume military action against Iran once the US midterm elections on 3 November are over. Tehran has repeatedly warned that any new attack would be met by strikes on American and Israeli interests in neighbouring countries.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index slipped 0.8% to 9,838, with almost every constituent ending lower. Saudi Arabian Mining Co fell 2.6%, while developer Jabal Omar dropped 7.3% after reporting a third-quarter net loss of 261.61 million riyals ($69.76 million), against a net profit of 197.85 million riyals a year earlier. One bright spot was IT provider Elm, which rose 9% after a 39% increase in quarterly net profit.
Qatar’s benchmark index rebounded from the previous session’s fall to close 4.6% higher at 9,575, its sharpest intraday percentage gain in more than eight years.
Sentiment in Doha was supported by QatarEnergy’s work to lock in long-term liquefied natural gas supplies from the United States and other producers, a trading strategy aimed at protecting revenues if exports through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupted. S&P also affirmed Qatar’s AA/A-1+ sovereign ratings with a stable outlook, pointing to the country’s substantial liquid, fiscal and external asset buffers despite regional security and trade-flow risks.
Qatar National Bank, the region’s largest lender, advanced 3%, while QatarEnergy-linked industrial group Industries Qatar jumped 7.9%.
Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait’s index lost 0.8% to 8,826, Bahrain fell 0.6% to 1,819 and Oman’s index was down 0.7% to 7,293. Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index dropped 1.9% to 48,650, with nearly all stocks lower. Commercial International Bank declined 2.2% and Talaat Moustafa Group fell 2%, days after Egypt’s central bank raised its key interest rates by 100 basis points on Thursday, its first increase since March 2024.
The divergence underlines how differently investors are reading exposure to a possible escalation: while most Gulf markets retreated on the uncertainty, Qatar’s energy-backed buffers and gas strategy gave its market a reason to rally.
Sources: Reuters, “Qatar surges, bucking Gulf market slide on Iran war concerns”, 1 November 2026, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/qatar-surges-bucking-gulf-market-slide-iran-war-concerns-2026-11-01/
