Real estate shares drag UAE markets down

Abu Dhabi's measure saw its largest one-day decline in 3 weeks on low trading volumes.

The index ended nearly 1 percent lower, falling to 3,207 points.

"We always have the Sunday effect, with much lower numbers in terms of institutional investors," said Julian Bruce,director of institutional equity sales at EFG Hermes.

"We saw a bit of weakness in banks and real estate stocks, and volumes were very low," he added.

Aldar Properties slipped 4 percent and Sorouh Real Estate fell 2.9 percent. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank ended 3.8 percent lower. Shares in Etisalat closed 0.4 percent lower ahead of third quarter earnings announcement.

Real estate stocks led the measure lower in Dubai. The index ended 2.5 percent down at 1,292 as Emaar Properties slumped 4.8 percent.

Savola Group edged higher after reporting a jump in quarterly profit, but other bluechips struggled as the Saudi index fell for the third time in four sessions.

The benchmark dropped 0.6 percent to 6,396 points. Savola Group reported a jump in third-quarter profit early Sunday, which helped its shares open 2 percent higher.

Most of these gains were wiped out over the course of the session, with Savola ending 0.3 percent higher.

Samba Financial Group saw some selling pressure, ending down 2.2 percent. The company posted a 0.7 percent increase in third-quarter profit on Tuesday.

Shares in National Bank of Oman fell 4.5 percent pushing the index down by 1 percent.

"There was strong selling from the retail side today, and the whole market was under pressure," said Adel Nasr at United Securities.

"The market is maybe in a stabilisation period now and will stay there until all the third quarter results are announced, and at least for the next two days, unless there is a surprise in Q3 results from one of the bluechips," Nasr said.

The index fell 1.03 percent to 6,617 points. Kuwait closed down 0.38 percent to 7,679 points and Bahrain edged up 0.03 percent to close at 1,550 points. 

Industries Qatar rose 3.8 percent in early trading, pulling the Qatar benchmark higher.

Industries Qatar announced a 55 percent decrease in net profit in the third quarter last week, better than analysts expectations.

The index rose 0.74 percent to 7397 points, bucking the trend seen in other Gulf markets, which are trading lower.

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