Stock markets in United Arab Emirates tumbled on Friday, tracking global equities as a widening conflict between Hamas militants and Israel made investors nervous. MSCI's broadest index of global equities fell 0.4%, while Europe's Stoxx 600 share index slid 0.9%. On Friday, the Israeli military called for civilians to leave Gaza City ahead of an anticipated ground invasion in response to devastating attacks by Hamas militants at the weekend.

Dubai's benchmark index dropped 2.3%, hitting three months low as the majority of stocks in the index were trading in negative territory. Dubai's blue-chip developer Emaar Properties recorded its worst day since mid-May 2022 with a 5.5% decline, while toll operator Salik Company slid 4.7%. Among other losers, real estate firm Union Properties dropped 8.3% after a local bank took action on the company's plot to settle the debt of its subsidiary Thermo in which the company was a guarantor.

Abu Dhabi's main index dipped 1.1%, pressured by a 5.1% fall in Aldar properties and a 3.1% decline in IHC-owned conglomerate Alpha Dhabi Holding. The Abu Dhabi and Dubai indexes recorded weekly losses of 2.8% and 4.8% respectively, according to LSEG data. Meanwhile, the oil price, a key contributor to the Gulf's economy, jumped nearly 4% after the U.S. tightened its sanctions programme against Russian crude exports, raising supply concerns in an already tight market.

Brent Crude was up 3.9%, or $3.34, at $89.34 a barrel as of 1143 GMT.

  • ABU DHABI lost 1.1% to 9,483
  • DUBAI declined 2.3% to 3,965

(Reporting by Mohd Edrees in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton)