Gulf fall steadies; ADX rebounds

Most Gulf markets edged lower on Monday on lingering investor concerns about slowing global growth but declines were stymied after the European Central Bank said it was buying bonds of euro zone strugglers Italy and Spain.

The Saudi market, the largest Arab bourse, was trading lower after recovering slightly on Sunday, following its drop to a five-month low on Saturday on a US downgrade. The index was trading 0.7 per cent lower at 1208 GMT (4pm UAE time).

The US rating downgrade by Standard & Poor's sent regional bourses to lows of at least several months on Sunday, with an uncertain debt situation in Europe weighing.

"The downgrade is not a major issue for US, it can survive with such a rating but the bigger issue is the outlook on global growth," said Marwan Shurrab, vice-president and chief trader at Gulfmena Investments in Dubai.

"The GDP numbers in the last week show slowness in growth and the recovery is not going as expected," he added.

Dubai's index ended slightly lower, giving up modest earlier gains. It lost 0.8 per cent, after slumping to a 20-week on Sunday.

Abu Dhabi's index rose from Sunday's 10-week low, ending up 0.4 per cent.

Property stocks supported, with Surouh Real Estate and Aldar Properties both closing 0.8 per cent higher.

In Qatar, the index dropped 0.8 per cent to close at 8,215 points.

Bargain-hunting helped limit declines in Oman, whose benchmark ended 0.8 per cent lower.

"Overall the risk reward ratio is turning positive with the market pricing in for most of the uncertainties," said Kanaga Sundar, head of research at Gulf Baader Capital Markets in Muscat.

"The market is going beyond fundamentals right now and is looking more at risk aversion. Already our market has underperformed for the current year and we may see institutions bottom-fishing for blue-chips," he added.

The main drag was heavyweight Bank Muscat which fell 0.9 per cent. Oil and gas industry services firm Renaissance Services slipped 2 per cent.

Monday’s highlights

Dubai

The index declined 0.8 per cent to 1,473 points.

Abu Dhabi

The benchmark rose 0.4 per cent to 2,613 points.

Qatar

The index retreated 0.8 per cent to 8,215 points.

Oman

The benchmark fell 0.8 per cent to 5,605 points.

Kuwait

The measure eased 0.2 per cent to 5,956 points.

Bahrain

The index slipped 0.2 per cent to 1,275 points.