MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf bourses sink as recession worries sparked by US tariffs mount

By Ateeq Shariff

April 6 (Reuters) - Stock markets in the Gulf fell sharply on Sunday as U.S. President Donald Trump's drastic trade tariffs and countermeasures from China stoked fears of a trade war and the prospect of a global recession.

China's finance ministry said on Friday it will impose additional 34% tariffs on all U.S. goods from April 10 as a countermeasure to sweeping tariffs imposed by Trump.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index .TASI plunged 6.8% - its biggest intraday fall since May 2020 - dragged down by a 5.9% decline in Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE and a 6.8% retreat in the country's largest lender Saudi National Bank 1180.SE.

Among other fallers, oil giant Saudi Aramco 2222.SE was down 5.3%, its biggest daily slide since the early days of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - plummeted 7% on Friday to a three-year low as China's tariff hikes on U.S. goods intensified the trade war, and as OPEC+ unexpectedly sped up oil output hikes.

Trump's Wednesday tariff announcement shook global stock markets, wiping out $5 trillion in value for S&P 500 index .SPX companies by Friday's close, a record two-day decline.

China said on Saturday "the market has spoken" in rejecting Trump's tariffs, and called on Washington for "equal-footed consultation" after global markets' dramatic reaction to the trade levies, which drew Chinese retaliation.

In Qatar, the index .QSI - which resumed trading after a five-session Eid break - tumbled 4.2%, with petrochemical maker Industries Qatar IQCD.QA diving 8.2% and the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank QNBK.QA down 4%.

Elsewhere, Kuwait's stock market .BKP ended 5.7% lower.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index .EGX30 dropped 3.3%, with Talaat Moustafa Group TMGH.CA closing 4.5% lower.