Stocks News Mideast-Iran fears may weigh on Gulf sentiment Tuesday, 20 December 2011 09:14

Gulf investors may be cautious on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah said the kingdom's security and that of its Arab neighbours was being targeted, in an apparent reference to Iran.

King Abdullah called for Gulf Arab states to close ranks in a "single entity".

"Clearly there is a need in the region to tackle Iran ... which comes on the heels of the final (U.S.) troops leaving Iraq," says Ibrahim Masood, senior investment officer at Mashreq bank. "It only brings an old issue out into the open but you may have a small effect on sentiment ... it's difficult to control people once speculation starts."

Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding surged to a six-month high on Monday after it and owner Prince Alwaleed bought a $300 million stake in Twitter, while most Gulf markets fell.

Dubai's Emaar Properties will be in focus after saying it secured a $1 billion financing secured against its mammoth Dubai Mall. Emaar's shares fell 2.3 percent on Monday before the financing deal was announced.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA) is another stock to watch after securing three energy firms as launch customers for its Bergermeer gas storage facility in the Netherlands in deals worth up to $1 billion.

Oman's Bank Muscat will set up a sharia-compliant banking arm, it said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia's Etihad Atheeb Telecom has received regulatory approval to launch a 1.175 billion riyals ($310 million) capital increase, paving the way for the loss-making firm to resume trading on the kingdom's bourse.

Gloomy global stocks may weigh on Gulf sentiment. Asian shares are steady in Tuesday trade, but U.S. markets slid about 1 percent overnight and European stocks also fell on Monday on continued worries over euro zone debts.   (Reuters/Nadia Saleem)