Dubai leads Arab market crash

Dubai: Arab stock markets tumbled for the fourth day running on Wednesday, led by Dubai which fell more than 10 per cent amid growing fears that policymakers may be powerless to stop the financial shock.

On the Dubai Financial Market, shares have lost more than a quarter of their value since the trading week began on Sunday.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange shed 5.44 per cent while the Muscat Securities Market slumped 6.33 per cent and was trading below the 7,000-point mark for the first time in more than two years.

In all, the seven Arab stock markets in the Gulf had already shed about 150 billion dollars of their capitalisation this week, shrinking their combined value around 800 billion dollars.