Major Gulf stock markets were little changed in early trade on Sunday, though the Saudi index was up 0.4% to extend gains from the previous four sessions.
In a blow for the Saudi economy the kingdom has restricted the annual haj pilgrimage to its own citizens and residents for the second year running in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
It also set a maximum of 60,000 participants, a fraction of the 2.5 million that would visit the holiest sites of Islam in Mecca and Medina before the pandemic for the week-long haj and the year-round umrah pilgrimage, which together earned the kingdom about $12 billion a year, official data shows.
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