By Ateeq Shariff

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Stock markets in the Gulf ended lower

on Thursday as investors await more third-quarter earnings amid

escalating geopolitical tensions in the region and softening oil

prices.

Lately the markets have been under pressure on worries that

Israel would attack Iran in retaliation for the latter's Oct. 1

missile strike.

Russia is warning Israel to not even consider striking

Iranian nuclear facilities, state news agency TASS quoted Deputy

Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Thursday.

The statement was attached to a Washington Post article

which said Netanyahu had told President Joe Biden's

administration that Israel would strike Iranian military

targets, not nuclear or oil targets.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index dropped 1.1%, with

aluminium products manufacturer Al Taiseer Group

losing 1.8% and Al Rajhi Bank sliding 2.9%.

The kingdom's crude oil exports in August fell to their

lowest level in a year, data from the Joint Organizations Data

Initiative (JODI) showed on Thursday.

Among other fallers, oil giant Saudi Aramco eased

0.4%.

Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets -

were broadly flat as investors waited on developments in the

Middle East, the release of official U.S. oil inventory data and

details on China's stimulus plans.

Dubai's main share index dropped 0.6%, with top

lender Emirates NBD declining 2.7% after reporting a

flat third-quarter net profit, as an increase in net interest

income was offset by higher impairment charges and investments

to drive future growth.

In Abu Dhabi, the index lost 0.3%, weighed down

by a 1.8% drop in the United Arab Emirates' biggest lender First

Abu Dhabi Bank ahead of its earnings announcement.

The Qatari index finished flat, with Commercial Bank

retreating 2.2% after the lender posted a mere 2.6%

increase in nine-month net profit.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index concluded

1.3% lower, with tobacco monopoly Eastern Company ( EML )

tumbling 6.3%.

SAUDI ARABIA fell 1.1% to 11,907

ABU DHABI lost 0.3% to 9,277

DUBAI dropped 0.6% to 4,459

QATAR declined 2% to 10,733

EGYPT lost 1.3% to 30,143

BAHRAIN eased 0.1% to 2,000

OMAN slipped 0.3% to 4,800

KUWAIT down 0.6% to 7,577