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Gulf markets tumble
Arab shares tumbled for the fourth day running on Wednesday but the Saudi bourse, the region's largest, rebounded after an international rate cut and the Egyptian market made up some ground.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:31 October 9, 2008
Arab shares tumbled for the fourth day running on Wednesday but the Saudi bourse, the region's largest, rebounded after an international rate cut and the Egyptian market made up some ground.
Concerns mounted about the impact of the global financial crisis on the Gulf, where the region's seven stock markets lost more than $30 billion of capitalisation in the latest rout.
That brought their value down to around $770 billion, a loss this week of around $180 billion.
Egypt's CASE-30 index, which had registered an intra-session decline of 13.4 per cent, ended the day at 5,479.
Oman: The Muscat Securities Market slumped 7.2 per cent to close below the 7,000 mark for the first time in more than two years. The slump "is due to a wave of panic among traders, particularly small investors, due to what they see happening in world markets," said an official at the Muscat Securities Market.
Qatar: The Doha Securities Market Index finished down 8.77 per cent at 7,432.87, the biggest single-day decline in gas-rich Qatar's financial market in several years. It shed 20 per cent this week. Industries Qatar and Qatar National Bank tumbled 9.11 per cent and 9.58 per cent respectively.
Bahrain: The benchmark Bahraini index slipped 2.7 per cent to 2,319. Ahli United Bank and Bahrain Telecommunications Co slid 7.07 per cent and 6.07 per cent respectively. "High tension and panic are gripping the Gulf stock markets," Hajjaj Bukhdur, an economist, said.
Kuwait: Kuwait's benchmark posted the smallest loss among its Gulf peers after its central bank slashed its key discount rate by 125 basis points. The Kuwaiti index ended 1.41 per cent lower at 11,472. Kuwaiti banks and investment firms proposed yesterday to set up a fund with private firms and the government to support the local bourse.
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index dropped 1.5 per cent to 6,160.52 after slumping as much as 8.9 per cent earlier. Saudi Basic Industries Corp surged more than 5 per cent, helping the benchmark scale back some of the losses suffered earlier in the session in reaction to the world's central bank's move.
Abu Dhabi : The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index retreated 6.4 per cent to 3,176.94. etisalat declined 7.2 per cent to Dh13.55. "The region is taking a cue from the international markets after the Dow broke a key level. That is having an impact here," Vyas Jayabhanu, head of Al Dhafra Financial Brokerage LLC, said.
Dubai: The Dubai Financial Market sank another 8.43 per cent to 3,085.02 at close, its biggest decline since March 2006. Giant real estate developer Emaar shed 7.4 per cent while leading construction firm Arabtec dipped the maximum 15 per cent. Emaar Properties fell 7.4 per cent to Dh5.5.
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