GCC Bourses Rack Up Losers as OPEC+, Tariffs Send Oil Tanking

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations saw their bourses plunge on Thursday following U.S. President Donald Trump’s unveiling of sweeping ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs on importers that helped send oil prices plunging 7% earlier in the day.
In the UAE, the Dubai stock index was gearing up to record its biggest drop so far this year, shedding 1.8%, while the Abu Dhabi index fell 0.8%. Saudi Arabia’s main index dropped 0.4%, partly driven by losses from state-run oil giant, Saudi Aramco.

Lower oil prices in recent years, combined with OPEC+ cuts, have taken their toll on the GCC finances, perpetuating concern that fuel demand and economic growth are slowing.

The primary attention going forward will be on oil prices, watching for further decline or stabilization, but analysts caution against bearish sentiment specifically on the GCC.
“This is a global equity sell-off, nothing specific to Gulf markets,” said Sanat Sachar, a portfolio manager at Azimut Middle East in Dubai, as reported by Arabian Gulf Business Insight (AGBI).

“Investors are risk-off, selling equities to hold cash while they wait to see how things play out. The Trump tariffs will have little-to-no impact on Gulf exports to the US, which are only a small portion of regional exports anyway, and I expect Gulf stock markets will be the first to recover,” Sachar added.

On Thursday at 1:37 p.m. ET, Brent crude was trading down 6.54%, while U.S. benchmark WTI was trading down 6.89%.

Markets were also thrown off course by an unexpected decision by OPEC+ on Thursday to raise output by 411,000 bpd in May. That represents a tripling of the anticipated monthly increase, and traders view this as too much, too soon. The move, described as a response to “healthy market fundamentals,” is part of a broader unwind of 2.2 million bpd in cuts that began this month, as previously reported by Oilprice.com.