nov 28 reuters  most gulf stock markets fell sharply in early trade on sunday with the saudi index suffering its biggest singleday fall in nearly two years as fears of a potentially vaccineresistant coronavirus variant rattled investors the world health organization who on friday designated a new covid19 variant detected in south africa as being of concern  the fifth variant to be given the designation read more saudi arabias benchmark index tasi retreated by 44 dragged down by a 34 fall for al rajhi bank 1120se and a 53 decline for saudi national bank 1180se the kingdom has halted flights from and to malawi zambia madagascar angola seychelles mauritius and comoros islands reuters reported on sunday citing the state news agency read more dubais main share index dfmgi tumbled 48 for its biggest intraday fall since march 2020 with bluechip developer emaar properties emardu losing 79 in abu dhabi the index adi dropped 23 hit by a 31 fall for first abu dhabi bank fabad the countrys largest lender and a 3 drop for telecoms company etisalat etisalatad the united arab emirates has suspended entry for travellers from south africa namibia lesotho eswatini zimbabwe botswana and mozambique from nov 29 owing to concerns about the new variant of the covid19 virus the state news agency reported on friday read more the latest panedmic developments also sent oil prices a key catalyst for the gulfs financial markets plunging by 10 a barrel on friday for their largest oneday drop since april 2020 the new variant added to concerns that an oil supply surplus could swell in the first quarter the qatari benchmark qsi declined more than 2 as stocks fell across the board on saturday qatar airways said it has banned travellers from south africa zimbabwe and mozambique because of the spread of a new coronavirus variant reporting by ateeq shariff in bengaluru editing by david goodman