Middle East Market Wrap 8 September: Gulf Mostly Higher as Saudi Energy Sites Are Hit, Egypt Falls 0.80 Percent

By The Edge Research Team

Most of the Gulf rose on the day its largest economy’s energy facilities were attacked. Abu Dhabi’s FTSE ADX General closed back above 10,000 for the first time since 31 August against our published closes, up 0.45 percent at 10,021.04, Qatar’s QE Index led the 9 headline benchmarks at plus 0.73 percent and Dubai extended its run to a fourth session, while Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share edged up 0.10 percent to 11,036.25, recovering a quarter of Monday’s 0.40 percent fall on our calculation. Brent traded at 98.70 dollars a barrel at our 12:05 GMT capture, 1.43 percent above Monday’s settlement on our calculation, after an official source at the Saudi Ministry of Energy said several energy sector facilities in the southern region were targeted on Tuesday morning, causing fires and a temporary halt to some operations, per the Saudi Press Agency. Egypt went the other way: the EGX 30 fell 0.80 percent to 56,174.30, the largest decline in our published record for the index, which begins on 30 August, closing at the session low with the pound 0.28 percent weaker at the central bank’s rate, its weakest level in our published record.

Kuwait’s headline index slips as the lower tiers gain

Boursa Kuwait’s All Share Index slipped 9.79 points, or 0.11 percent, to 8,924.74, after Monday’s 1.07 percent rebound, but the headline masked strength in the lower tier gauges: the BK Main 50 jumped 1.31 percent to 11,065.11 and the Main Market rose 0.52 percent to 9,257.01, while the Premier Market, which carried Monday’s gain, gave back 0.24 percent to 9,317.21. Traded value held at 136.9 million dinars against Monday’s 136.7 million, on our calculation from the exchange’s summaries, on 560.1 million shares and 34,180 trades. The exchange’s Kuwait oil price indicator read 101.22 dollars, up 3.18 percent from the 98.10 marking it showed on Monday. Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attacks on Saudi civilian sites and economic facilities, per the same agency, citing a statement carried by the Kuwait News Agency.

Saudi Arabia steadies on the day of the attacks

The Tadawul All Share Index rose 11.52 points, or 0.10 percent, to 11,036.25, after Monday’s 43.92 point decline, with the MSCI Tadawul 30 up 0.08 percent at 1,481.58 and the Nomu Parallel Market down 0.16 percent at 21,706.67, per the exchange. Value traded on the Main Market was 3.21 billion riyals. The session came after the ministry source’s statement on the southern facilities, and oil moved far more than the Saudi benchmark: Brent was 1.43 percent above Monday’s settlement at our capture while the Tadawul All Share finished 0.10 percent higher, on our reading.

Abu Dhabi back above 10,000, Dubai’s fourth gain, Qatar leads

The FTSE ADX General rose 45.32 points, or 0.45 percent, to 10,021.04 on 1.08 billion dirhams of value and 24,690 trades, per the exchange, with the FADX 15 up 0.53 percent. Dubai’s DFM General added 15.38 points, or 0.26 percent, to 5,946.67, its fourth consecutive gain against our published closes after rises of 0.49, 0.70 and 0.79 percent. Qatar’s QE Index rose 71.60 points, or 0.73 percent, to 9,857.33 on our calculation against Monday’s close, the largest gain among the 9 headline benchmarks, on 554.5 million riyals of value per the exchange’s own ticker.

Bahrain, Oman and Amman

Bahrain’s All Share Index eased 0.46 points, or 0.02 percent, to 1,934.50 on 165 trades and 812,416 dinars of value, per the exchange, its fifth consecutive decline, none larger than 0.12 percent, on our count against our published closes. Oman’s MSX 30 rose 0.10 percent to 7,613.473, with 20 stocks up, 27 down and 31 unchanged on turnover of 42.1 million rials, per the exchange. Amman’s ASE Index gained 0.47 percent to 4,105.76.

Egypt’s largest fall in our record

The EGX 30 opened at Monday’s close of 56,627.83, rose to 56,909.93 and then fell through the session to close at its low of 56,174.30, down 453.53 points or 0.80 percent, on our calculation from the exchange’s index page, which puts the index 34.30 percent above its end 2025 level in its own year to date figure, down from 35.38 percent on Monday. In dollar terms the exchange put the index down 1.08 percent, the wider dollar decline reflecting the pound: the Central Bank of Egypt’s buy rate for the dollar moved to 50.9829 pounds on Tuesday from 50.8389 on Monday, a 0.28 percent weakening on our calculation, and the weakest rate in our published record, which begins with 26 August’s 50.1481. The decline follows Monday’s 0.09 percent slip that ended a 4 session run, and lands about 2 days before the August inflation reading is due from CAPMAS on the usual pattern, for which no date has been confirmed.

Oil toward 100 with the region’s own supply in the story

Brent for November traded at 98.70 dollars at 12:05 GMT, 1.43 percent above Monday’s 97.31 dollar ICE settlement on our calculation, and WTI for October at 93.80 dollars, 2.54 percent above Friday’s settlement, the last struck before the United States holiday. The Ministry of Energy source said specialised field teams had begun containing the fires, securing the sites and assessing the damage, and that the attacks caused injuries of varying severity among citizens and residents, per the same agency, which also carried condemnations from the GCC secretary general, Kuwait and Bahrain. Gold for December was 0.72 percent lower at 4,444.20 dollars against Friday’s settlement, and the dollar index read 98.951, 0.23 percent below Friday’s close.

Risers; the second table carries the fallers and the full note.

Closes for Tuesday 8 September 2026, ranked by change and split across 2 tables for legibility on a phone; the Tadawul All Share and the MSX 30 both rose 0.10 percent and the Saudi index’s gain is the larger at 3 decimals (0.104 against 0.100). Every level was read at the index’s own exchange with its closed session stamp; the Saudi rows were confirmed after the Main Market status turned to Negotiated Deals Only, and the Qatar level is from the exchange’s own ticker. Every change reconciles against our own published closes of 7 September, and the Dubai change is the exchange’s own figure. Omitted rows: BK Main 50 (Kuwait) 11,065.11, plus 1.31 percent; FADX 15 (Abu Dhabi) 10,596.81, plus 0.53 percent; Nomu Parallel Market (Saudi Arabia) 21,706.67, minus 0.16 percent. 6 of the 9 headline benchmarks rose, one per market: the QE Index, ASE Index, FTSE ADX General, DFM General, Tadawul All Share and MSX 30; the Bahrain All Share, Kuwait All Share and EGX 30 fell.

Intraday quotes captured in one call at 12:05 GMT on 8 September 2026, before the United States settlement windows, ranked by change. Brent is measured against Monday’s 97.31 dollar ICE settlement as reported by Reuters; WTI and gold against Friday 4 September’s settlements, since CME derived no settlements on the United States holiday; the dollar index is a spot quote against Friday’s close, the vendor’s prior close field.

Why it matters: The clearest cross-asset signal was the difference in scale between oil and equities, on our reading. Brent was 1.43 percent above Monday’s settlement at the capture while 6 of the 9 regional headline benchmarks closed higher, including Saudi Arabia’s own, which suggests investors had not priced a broad regional equity shock by the close; it does not settle the economic effect of the attacks, where the damage assessment and any effect on production or exports remain the variables. Abu Dhabi’s return above 10,000 and Qatar’s 0.73 percent gain came with Brent within 2 dollars of 100 and the Kuwait oil indicator above it, while Kuwait itself was split, the All Share and Premier Market lower and the Main Market and BK Main 50 higher. Egypt moved separately: the EGX 30 fell 0.80 percent to its session low as the pound weakened 0.28 percent, and the same day co-movement is not by itself evidence that the currency or the oil price caused the equity decline, on our reading.

Outlook: Saudi second quarter GDP from the General Authority for Statistics was scheduled for Tuesday, per our Week Ahead of 6 September, and is the first regional print of the week when it lands, followed by business confidence on Wednesday and July industrial production on Thursday. Egypt’s August inflation from CAPMAS is due about Thursday on the usual pattern, the first reading since the Central Bank of Egypt said it expects annual headline inflation to accelerate through the third quarter, and Tuesday’s pound move raises its stakes, on our reading. United States markets reopen on Tuesday after Labor Day with oil near 100 dollars, Thursday’s producer prices and Friday’s consumer prices ahead, and Federal Reserve pricing near 60 percent for a hike next week, per our commodities wrap of 7 September, the pricing that reaches the pegged Gulf currencies. For the Gulf, the question the damage assessment at the southern facilities answers is whether Tuesday’s move stays a price story or becomes a physical supply story involving production or exports.

Sources: Boursa Kuwait, Saudi Exchange, Dubai Financial Market, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Qatar Stock Exchange, Bahrain Bourse, Muscat Stock Exchange, Amman Stock Exchange, The Egyptian Exchange, Central Bank of Egypt, Saudi Press Agency, Kuwait News Agency, CNBC, Reuters, The Edge.

Get Complimentary Insights

Follow us