Gulf stock markets slump again

STOCKS DECLINE: All Gulf markets bar Saudi ended the day lower. (Getty Images)

Real estate stocks tumbled in the UAE on Wednesday as negative sentiment continued to hit the sector hard.

Mortgage lender Tamweel, Emaar Properties, Union Properties and Deyaar all closed almost 10 percent lower.

Tamweel received funds from the central bank after the cost of market financing rose, local media reported.

Fellow mortgage lender Amlak, which is in merger talks with Tamweel, also fell more than 9 percent as the index closed 5.48 percent to 2,214 points.

In Abu Dhabi, Sorouh Real Estate closed almost 10 percent lower after it said on Tuesday it was reducing its foreign share ownership by 5 percent.

"The board has taken this decision to protect the interests of Sorouh's long-term investors, both local and foreign," it said, reducing foreign shareholding to 15 percent from 20 percent.

The announcement did little to address the slump as Sorouh closed 9.46 percent lower.

Aldar Properties ended down 5.63 percent and Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (Etisalat) fell 6.88 percent as the index dropped by 5.67 percent.

Shares of Samba Financial Group ended more than seven percent higher, reversing some of the early declines in Saudi Arabia's main index, which bucked the regional trend to close higher.

Samba surged 7.53 percent and Al-Rajhi Bank gained 0.76 percent. The index closed up 0.35 percent at 5,485 points.

Bank and industrial stocks weighed on Qatar on Wednesday as the index slipped almost 5 percent.

Industries Qatar fell 8.56 percent and Qatar Islamic Bank closed 6.83 percent down as the index slipped 4.72 percent to 6,043 points.

In Kuwait, National Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait Finance House fell 7.58 percent and 5.19 percent respectively, pushing the index 2.26 percent down at 8,851 points.

Bank and cement stocks led Oman's main index almost 3 percent lower.

Bank Muscat, down 49 percent this year, dropped 2.84 percent and National Bank of Oman slipped 5.6 percent as the index, which is down more than 27 percent this year, closed 2.96 percent lower at 6,374 points.

Bahrain's benchmark also closed down, falling 2.33 percent to 2,056 points, led by Ahli United, which tumbled 7.41 percent.

On Tuesday, most Gulf exchanges ended lower, led by Dubai, which fell over seven percent, while Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia both tumbled around 4.5 percent.

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