Stocks In Qatar Dive Most Since Blockade As U.A.E. Says Fighter Jets Intercepted Airliner
If you were under the impression that relations between Qatar and the Saudi-led bloc that cut diplomatic ties with the filthy-rich sheikdom last summer were set to thaw, you might want to rethink that assumption because, on Monday, Qatar fighter jets intercepted a U.A.E. plane on a regular flight to Bahrain’s capital.
Or at least according to the U.A.E’s General Civil Aviation Authority which says “it received a complaint from one of the UAE’s national carriers that one of its aircraft on a flight to Manama on a normal route had been intercepted by Qatari fighters”.
The plane was flying on usual path, the U.A.E. added, before calling the move “a flagrant [and] a serious threat to aviation safety” and a “violation to international law.” Here’s Bahrain’s statement:
- BAHRAIN SAYS QATAR JETS INTERCEPTED EMIRATES FLIGHT 837
Subsequently, the U.A.E. claimed a second airliner had been intercepted:
- U.A.E. SAYS QATAR JETS INTERCEPT ANOTHER COMMERCIAL FLIGHT: WAM
This comes just days after Qatar accused a U.A.E. fighter jet of violating its airspace. That alleged violation prompted Qatar’s UN envoy to declare that Doha would take “necessary measures” to defend its borders and airspace.
Obviously, there’s a connection between that and today’s incident.
Needless to say, Monday’s news did not go over well with Qatari stocks, which quickly erased gains on the way to diving more than 2%:
That would be the biggest drop since the blockade began and comes just five days after the QE broke above its 200-day moving average for the first time since April.
For its part, Qatar is denying the allegations:
- QATAR DENIES INTERCEPTING U.A.E. CIVILIAN PLANE: JAZEERA TV
Here’s Sheikh Saif Al Thani, head of the Qatari government communications office, calling this “completely untrue”:
The State of Qatar announces that claims that Qatari fighter jets intercepting an Emirati civilian aircraft is completely untrue. A detailed statement will follow.
— سيف بن أحمد آل ثاني (@saifaalthani) January 15, 2018
Stay tuned, because this has the potential to get interesting.
Disclosure: none of what I write here is to be construed as advice to buy or sell any kind of asset. It is merely my personal and not my professional opinion. Any asset can go to zero.