BENGALURU - The Saudi bourse led Gulf equities lower in early trade on ‍Thursday as investors ‍weighed escalating geopolitical tensions against mixed U.S. labour market signals.

The United ​States seized two Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, including ⁠one sailing under Russia's flag, as part of President Donald Trump's push to tighten control ⁠over oil ‌flows in the Americas.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index fell 0.8%, with almost all constituents in negative territory. Materials, utilities and financials ⁠stocks led the losses.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) slid as much as 4.8% to 48.20 riyals a share, its lowest in nearly 17 years.

The decline came after the chemical major said in a ⁠bourse filing on Thursday it had ​agreed to divest its entire stake in SABIC Europe and its Engineering Thermoplastics (ETP) business in Europe and ‍the Americas for a combined enterprise value of $950 million.

Elsewhere, Al Rajhi Bank eased ​0.8% and Saudi Arabian Mining Co slipped 1.6%.

The Qatari benchmark index declined 0.5%, with most stocks lower. Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding fell 1.1%, while Qatar National Bank, the region's largest lender, shed 0.8%.

Dubai's benchmark stock index eased 0.2%, dragged by a 4.4% drop in Gulf Navigation Holding and a 1% decline in Emaar Development.

The Abu Dhabi benchmark index edged down 0.1%. Alpha Dhabi Holding lost 0.7% and Presight AI fell 1.9%.

Data on Wednesday showed U.S. job openings fell to a 14-month ⁠low in November, while hiring remained sluggish, pointing ‌to cooling labour demand.

Investors are awaiting U.S. non-farm payrolls data due on Friday for further clues on the Federal Reserve's interest-rate path.

Gulf markets tend ‌to track ⁠shifts in U.S. monetary policy expectations, as most regional currencies are pegged to ⁠the dollar.

(Reporting by Md Manzer Hussain; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)