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Dubai: Shares in Gulf countries retreated after crude oil fell for a fourth day and as foreign investors exited the region's markets.
Bank Muscat SAOG, Oman's largest lender, declined to its lowest in 11 months. Industries Qatar slid to the lowest in almost a week and Arab National Bank, Saudi Arabia's sixth- largest publicly traded lender by assets, fell for a second day.
"The drop in oil price combined with high inflation is decreasing the appeal of Gulf markets to foreigners amid a general lack of interest from local investors,'' Mohammad Salem, a trader at Al-Futtaim HC Securities in Dubai, said in a telephone interview. "Foreign institutions are exiting emerging markets as they try to cover positions in the U.S.''
Oman's Muscat Securities Market 30 Index lost 2.3 percent to 9,189.07, its lowest close since Feb. 3. Qatar's Doha Securities Market Index declined 1.3 percent to 10,245.29, while Saudi Arabia's Tadawul dropped for a third day, falling 0.4 percent to 8,556.61 at 12:32 p.m. local time.
Crude oil for October delivery slipped as much as $2.39, or 2.2 percent, to $107.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil is down about $37 from its July record. Inflation in Saudi Arabia, the biggest economy in the Middle East, accelerated to a record 11.1 percent in July.
Foreign investors were net sellers of 549 million dirhams ($149 million) of securities on the Dubai Financial Market PJSC, last week, the exchange said in an e-mailed statement Aug. 30. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has retreated 27 percent from this year's high on May 19.
Bank Muscat dropped 1.7 percent to 1.485 rials, its lowest since Oct. 2. Industries Qatar, the largest publicly traded company in the Persian Gulf emirate, slipped 1.4 percent to 162.3 riyals, the lowest since Aug. 28. Arab National Bank retreated 2.6 percent to 57 riyals.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index slipped 0.2 percent, while the Dubai Financial Market General Index rose 0.6 percent. The Bahrain All Share Index lost 0.4 percent and the Kuwait Stock Exchange Index gained 0.4 percent.
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