Saudi Arabia led a decline in most Gulf stock markets on Thursday as investors fled riskier assets on worries about global inflation, China's zero-COVID policy and the Ukraine war.

The main stock index in Saudi Arabia dropped 2.7%, mirroring weakness in global peers after an overnight selloff on Wall Street.

Losses were concentrated in Al Rajhi Bank and oil behemoth Saudi Aramco, both of which fell nearly 3%. Saudi Electricity tumbled 5.5% to extend losses from Wednesday when it reported a drop in quarterly net profit.

In Dubai, the main share index was 1.1% lower, hit by a 1.4% fall in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 1.3% slide in sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank .

The Qatar index retreated 2.5%, with almost all the stocks trading in negative territory including Qatar National Bank, the Gulf's biggest lender, down 4.6%.

Bucking the trend, the Abu Dhabi index advanced 1%, buoyed by a 7.6% rise in International Holding Co (IHC) .

IHC, chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the national security adviser of the United Arab Emirates, had gained 6.7% in the previous session after completing a 7.3-billion dirham ($1.99 billion) investment deal for three Adani companies.

Separately, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its Austrian chemicals partner Borealis plan an initial public offering of their petrochemicals joint venture Borouge, the latest step in the Abu Dhabi state energy group's asset monetisation programme.

($1 = 3.7510 riyals)

(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)