Middle Eastern markets that opened on Sunday showed little sign of panic as trading began a day after Israel started its ground invasion of Gaza.
Israel’s TA-35 stock index rose 1.6% as of 12:10 p.m. in Tel Aviv, headed for its first gain in three trading days. The index is down nearly 11% since Israel declared war after a Hamas infiltration on Oct. 7. Moves on other major equity exchanges in the region were mostly subdued, with the Tadawul All Share Index in Riyadh falling as much as 0.5% before paring losses. The EGX30 gauge in Cairo was slightly up. Stocks in Kuwait led declines in the region with a more than 2% drop.
With a ground invasion of Gaza widely expected for days, investors have looked for signs that the conflict could expand, for example by deepening hostilities with other regional powers and drawing in other nations, including Iran and possibly the US. Saudi Arabia and the UAE condemned the intensified ground operations over the weekend as Israel warned they were the beginning of a long war.
Tom Holland and Yanmei Xie of Gavekal said in a note to clients on Sunday that “the near-term probability of an escalation severe enough to destabilize global financial markets — driving oil above $100 a barrel and triggering a major flight to safety — remains low.”
“The chance that the fighting between Israel and Hamas will escalate into a wider Middle Eastern war remains small,” the analysts wrote. “All the other players in the region have clear incentives to avoid a broader conflict. This includes Hezbollah, which although it has fired missiles into Israeli-controlled territory, has by and large so far followed established, if informal, rules of engagement aimed at limiting bloodshed.”
The country’s currency, the shekel, won’t trade again until Monday. It rose on Friday for the first time in 15 days, ending its longest losing streak since 1984.
