Middle East Stock Markets Suffer Losses after US Assassination of Iran's Top Commander

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) as well as other key Middle East stock exchanges were down on Sunday after the US' assassination of Iran’s top general triggered a new round of tensions between Washington and Tehran.

The TASI slumped around 2 percent and was below 8,230 points on Sunday morning. Shares of energy giant Saudi Aramco fell to the lowest level since its record IPO last month, trading at 34.55 riyals per share.

Other key equity markets in the region also fell sharply. The major stocks of the Dubai Financial Market were down more than three percent after losing nearly 85 points, while the Qatar Exchange Index slid nearly 2.1 percent and shares included in Kuwait’s premier index fell more than four percent. The overall index of the 30 most highly capitalized and liquid stocks traded on the Egyptian Exchange also slumped, falling nearly 2.5 percent.

Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Qods Force Commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, Deputy Commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), or Hashad al-Shabi, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and several others were martyred in a targeted assassination raid by US aircraft in Iraq on Friday.

Iranian officials branded Washington assassination operation an “act of international terrorism” and promised retaliation. Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has stated that the Unites States must await a tough revenge.