Dubai Financial Market slumps to its lowest since 2004

Dubai: Stock markets in Gulf region slumped on Thursday on fears of a global recession.

The Dubai Financial Market plunged 4.1 per cent to close at 2,797.60 points, its lowest level since early 2004.

The DFM Index ended the week down almost five percent and has shed 52.8 percent on the year, the worst performance in the Gulf.

The DFM was dragged down by the market leader, property giant Emaar, which dived seven percent to below five dirhams (1.36 dollars) per share, the lowest level in almost four years.

The real estate sector as a whole dipped 6.3 per cent and telecoms shed 5.1 per cent.

Fellow UAE market, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, finished down 3.3 per cent as the key real estate sector shed 5.3 per cent and banks lost 3.7 per cent. The ADX index ended the week almost unchanged.

Kuwait Stock Exchange, the second biggest Arab bourse, dropped 1.1 per cent to 9,674.80 points despite a new government plan to help investment firms which have been struggling to pay their debt estimated at 20 billion dollars.

The KSE Index finished the week down 1.16 per cent.

Doha Securities Market closed down one per cent at 7,406.27 points but ended the week up a healthy 6.9 per cent.

The small Muscat Securities Market dropped 1.66 per cent and Bahrain Stock Market lost just 0.33 per cent.