Mideast Stocks: Gulf Stocks Slide As Ras Tanura Refinery Attack Rattles Investors

Gulf stocks slid in early trade on Wednesday as an attack on a refinery in top crude exporter Saudi Arabia rattled investors and renewed concerns that conflict in the Middle East could escalate.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they had struck the 550,000-barrel-per-day facility, the kingdom's biggest refinery, with a ballistic missile. Saudi authorities had not immediately confirmed the strike.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index declined 1.3%, weighed down by a 1.6% slide in Al Rajhi Bank and a 1.3% decline in oil major Saudi Aramco.

Brent crude futures rose $2.02, or 1.8%, to $115.90 a barrel by 0735 GMT, underpinned by renewed concerns about supply in the Middle East.

Elsewhere, Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia retreated 2.7% after a drop in third-quarter profit.

On the other hand, National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia jumped 7% after reporting a steep rise in quarterly profit.

Dubai's main share index fell 0.5%, with top lender Emirates NBD losing 0.9%.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran to try to reduce regional tensions.

In Abu Dhabi, the benchmark stock index declined 1%, dragged down by a 4.3% slide in Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.

In the previous session, the sharia-compliant lender reported a marginal rise in third-quarter profit.

The Qatari benchmark eased 0.2%.