Qatar stocw egchante drops as ultimatum deadline nears

DOHA, Qatar — Qatar’s stock exchange dropped Sunday as the tiny Gulf nation braced for a deadline to accept demands from four Arab countries in part over what they allege is its support for extremist groups.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut off ties with 2022 FIFA World Cup host Qatar in early June, restricting access to their airspace and ports and sealing Qatar’s only land border, which it shares with Saudi Arabia. They issued a 13-point list of demands to end the standoff June 22 and gave the natural gas-rich country 10 days to comply.

Qatar’s main QE stock index lost morethan3percentwhenitreopened following a weeklong hiatus for the Eid al-fitr holiday break — its first session since the demands were laid out. It eventually recovered some of its losses later in the trading session to close down 2.3 percent at

8,822.15.

The deadline was set to expire by day’s end before Saudi Arabia and allies extended it two more days..

Qatar says the demands are an affront to its sovereignty.

“Qatar is not an easy country to be swallowed by anyone. We are ready. We stand ready to defend our coun- try. I hope that we don’t come to a stage where, you know, a military intervention is made,” Qatari Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-attiyah told Sky News.

Qatari supermarkets saw panic buying when the four countries initially cut ties. But the capital, Doha, was largely calm Sunday as residents waited to see how the crisis would play out.

Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, showed no signs of backing down during a press briefing in Rome on Saturday, saying they were never meant to be accepted and that his country “is prepared to face whatever consequences.”