This archive report was first published on 5 January 2020.
On Sunday, January 5, 2020, the Saudi Aramco shares hit their lowest level since their market debut, amidst a panicky sell-off in Gulf bourses.
The sell-off was triggered by Iranian vows of retaliation over the US killing of a top general, Qasem Soleimani, in a US airstrike in Baghdad on Friday.
As a result, all seven bourses in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states closed in the red, with Kuwait's Boursa leading the slide, shedding 3.7 per cent.
The decline in Gulf shares comes despite a surge in oil prices, on which all six GCC nations rely heavily for public revenues.
"It's certainly due to fears of a possible US-Iranian conflict breaking out in the Gulf," said Mohammed Zidan, market strategist at Thinkmarket in Dubai.
"I think the decline will continue for some time and especially as long as tensions and the threat of an armed conflict continue," Zidan added.
