Gulf stock markets were neutral to negative in early trade on Tuesday after Brent oil fell below $65 per barrel and Saudi Arabia sent a ground strike force towards its border with Yemen.
Brent crude slipped 0.3 per cent to $64.75 in Asian trade as the market remained oversupplied and the dollar gained on fears that Greece would not be able to repay its debts.
In Yemen, heavy fighting continued overnight and Saudi Arabian media had reported on Monday that the kingdom was moving tanks to its southern border, which could be seen as preparations for an intervention on the ground.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels and the Riyadh-led coalition, which has been fighting them for more than a month, have agreed to start a five-day humanitarian truce on Tuesday, but it remains unclear whether it will happen — and even if it does, the truce may not lead to any longer-term resolution of the conflict.
Dubai’s stock index fell 0.6 per cent and the most traded stock, developer Union Properties, tumbled 4.1 per cent. The stock fell to its daily 10 per cent limit on Monday after Union Properties said its first-quarter profit had fallen to 28.1 million dirhams ($7.7 million) from 179.8 million dirhams a year earlier.
Builder Arabtec, whose board will review first-quarter earnings later on Tuesday, fell 1.2 per cent.
Abu Dhabi’s benchmark edged down 0.4 per cent as oil and gas firm Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA) tumbled 5.4 per cent.
Markets in Qatar, Kuwait and Oman were nearly flat.