Global market turmoil dampens performance of Gulf bourses

Dubai: June 2008 proved to be a dull month for Gulf bourses with all GCC markets, except Kuwait posting losses, a recent report by Kuwait financial centre Markaz said.

“Market performance during the month was largely affected by reduced activity due to ongoing global market turmoil, in addition to profit booking in many GCC markets. Strong markets, such as Qatar and Oman, as well as laggards, like Saudi Arabia, posted losses as structural problems in the US seeped into their economies,'' Markaz said in a press statement.

Markaz, which aims to analyze the performance of equity funds across the region, said Kuwait posted monthly gains of 2.9 per cent.

The Qatari and Bahraini stock markets also ended the month in the red, but the losses were insignificant.

Dubai was the weakest GCC market as it lost four per cent for the month of June.