Kuwait loses 3% as Gulf shares plunge amid investor concerns

Dubai: Gulf shares fell, following global markets lower, led by real-estate companies, amid investor concern that the construction boom will slow.

Zain, the Kuwait-based phone company, fell for the first time in three days as the Kuwait Stock Exchange Index lost 3 per cent.

"The drop in the Gulf is a knock-on from what happened late last week in global markets and Saudi's extreme move yesterday," said Julian Bruce, director of institutional sales at EFG-Hermes Holding SAE, Egypt's largest investment bank, in an e-mail.

"Fund redemptions, prompting forced selling, and local margin calls are also contributing to the sell-off," she said.

European stocks posted their steepest weekly decline in five years on concerns that slowing growth will curb earnings at commodity producers while banks will face higher costs as the European Central Bank tightened lending rules.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 5.6 per cent last week and in the US the Standard & Poor's 500 Index decreased 3.2 per cent. Saudi Arabia's Index slumped the most in almost eight month yesterday.

Zain slumped the most since April 27, losing 4.7 per cent to 1,620 fils. The Kuwait-based phone company, with units in 22 African and Middle East nations, said on Friday that it will spend $352.9 million over the next two years upgrading its network in Kenya and $100 million to upgrade its Malawian operations.

Saudi Arabia's Tadawul dropped 1.7 per cent to 7,907.52, bringing the five-day slump to 9.7 per cent. The kingdom's market is the biggest in the region and the only one open on Saturdays. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world's largest chemical maker by market value, declined for the fifth day, losing 2 per cent to 108 riyals.

Saudi Arabia's stock market regulator on Wednesday said it will start allowing some stocks to move by 0.05-riyal and 0.10- riyal increments instead of the current 0.25 riyal starting September 13.

Qatar's Doha Securities Market Index declined for the fourth day, losing 2.9 per cent, while Bahrain All Share Index retreated for the sixth day, dropping 1 per cent.

Oman's Muscat Securities Market 30 Index added 1.9 per cent, ending three days of declines.