A general view of the Egyptian Stock Market in the capital Cairo. The benchmark index slid 2.7%, down for a second straight session from last week’s 65-month high to trim its 2014 gains to 15.9%.

Reuters/Dubai

Middle East stock markets slid yesterday as a heightened threat of armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia triggered widespread selling, despite the benefit of higher oil prices to Gulf energy exporters.

Brent crude oil jumped almost $3 to $111.98 per barrel but Asian and European stock markets fell roughly 2% or more, prompting retail investors in the Gulf, who have bid their markets up sharply in recent months, to take profits.

In Qatar, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company (MPHC), the market’s first new listing since 2010, fell by its daily limit of 10% for a second straight session. The stock soared 450% in its debut last Wednesday on the back of retail investor buying, valuing the stock at nearly three times levels which analysts consider fair.

Qatar’s index fell 0.9% to 11,664 points.

Cairo’s benchmark index slid 2.7%, down for a second straight session from last week’s 65-month high to trim its 2014 gains to 15.9%.

Saudi Arabia’s bourse, whose heavyweight petrochemical firms stand to benefit the most from any surge in oil prices, slipped 0.8%. The petrochemical sector’s index lost 1.0%.

“Ukraine is a good pretext to book profits but there’s no fundamental reason for the selling pressure,” said John Sfakianakis, chief investment strategist at Saudi investment firm MASIC. “I don’t see a deep correction as justified, and oil prices going up is a good sign for the region.”

Bargain-hunters could be quick to return as soon as military tensions ease, he added.

Dubai’s index lost 1.9% to trim its 2014 gains to 21.8% as it slumped to a two-week low. Abu Dhabi’s measure dropped 1.8%.

Kuwait’s bourse tumbled 1.9% to a five-month low as a crackdown by the market regulator on improper trading sparked a sell-off by retail traders in small-cap stocks.

The Kuwaiti Court of First Instance ruled against Ahmed Yousef Behbehani, chairman of Al Ahli Bank, over alleged insider trading in the bank’s shares and imposed a fine of 1.5mn dinars ($5.3mn) on him, the bank said in a statement.

Speculation in Kuwait tends to focus on small-caps, which are easier to manipulate because of their small free floats.

Kuwait’s index ended at 7,494 points, below technical support at the December low of 7,501 points; any close below that level today would confirm a break, leaving no major chart support before the September 2013 low of 7,132 points.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Oman’s measure declined 0.3% to 7,097 points, while Bahrain’s index slipped 0.4% to 1,365 points.