Kuwait – Mubasher: Saudi-led military strikes in Yemen will reflect positively on Arab and Gulf stock markets, alongside an improvement in oil prices, an analyst told Mubasher.

Saudi Arabia announced on Wednesday that it began a military campaign in Yemen, launching air strikes in coordination with an alliance of 10 nations to restore the Yemeni government that collapsed after Houthi rebel forces took control of large swathes of land and surrounded the southern city of Aden, where the Yemeni president has fled.

Mahmoud Abou Zeid, a financial analyst at Namaa Consulting, said that Gulf markets are likely to be dominated by speculation, based on past experience with crises such as the Arab Spring, the wars in Libya, Syria and Iraq as well as growing tension with Iran.

Portfolio managers and market makers will enter Gulf markets in order to rectify their directions, the analyst noted, adding that the Yemen conflict will have a prompt effect on oil prices, which neared the level of $60 per barrel on Wednesday.

Countries taking part in the military campaign include five GCC states, namely: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, in addition to Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Morocco and Pakistan.

The US said early Thursday that President Barack Obama has agreed to provide intelligence and logistical support for the campaign in Yemen.