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Gulf stock markets were subdued on Sunday as U.S. and Iranian forces traded heavy missile and drone strikes, with Tehran hitting U.S. facilities across the region and again shutting the Strait of Hormuz.
A wave of strikes exchanged between the U.S. and Iran over recent days prompted President Donald Trump to announce that their ceasefire was over, though he signalled that talks could still resume.
The escalation followed several attacks on commercial vessels in the region. Iran stated it had shut the strait after firing a warning shot at a ship on an unauthorised route and on Sunday reported it had disabled a second vessel. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index edged 0.1% higher, helped by a 0.2% rise in oil giant Saudi Aramco.
The kingdom is considering expanding capacity of its crude oil pipeline to the western Red Sea coast, five sources close to the matter said, enabling the kingdom and possibly neighbours to transport more oil without crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
The Qatari index was up 0.1%, with petrochemicals maker Industries Qatar gaining 0.6%.
Qatar's former emir, whose leadership helped to establish the country as a regional powerhouse, has died aged 74, the Amiri Diwan government body announced on Sunday.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index eased by 0.1%, with Talaat Moustafa Group Holding down 0.6%.
Egypt's current account deficit more than doubled to $5.1 billion in the January-March quarter, from $2.3 billion a year earlier, central bank data showed on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia was up 0.1% to 10,819
Qatar rose 0.1% to 10,103
Egypt lost 0.1% to 52,256
Bahrain inched 0.1% higher to 2,011
Oman added 0.1% to 7,652
Kuwait eased 0.1% to 9,082
(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru Editing by David Goodman)





















