Wednesday 8 October 2008

Gulf shares continue freefall

Stock markets in Gulf region tumbled at the opening on Wednesday for the fourth day running, with Dubai leading the way with a plunge of
almost 10 per cent.

The Dubai Financial Market slumped by 9.6 per cent to 3,046 points on concerns about the impact of the global financial crisis on the oil-rich region, before recovering slighly to 3,085.01 points.

The Dubai exchange was again dragged down by heavyweight real estate developer Emaar, which shed 10 percent. The real estate sector as whole was also down 10 percent, while the financial and investment sector shed about 14 per cent.

The index had already dropped 7.6 per cent on Monday and 5.14 per cent on Tuesday to 3,369.15 points, its lowest level in more than two years.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange shed 2.7 per cent at opening, while the Kuwait Stock Exchange, the second largest Arab bourse, dropped 1.1 percent.

The Central Bank of Kuwait on Wednesday cut the discount rate by 1.25 per centage points to 4.5 per cent after local banks complained of lack of liquidity, the KUNA news agency reported.

The Saudi bourse, the largest in the Middle East, which shed almost 16 percent in the past two days, starts trading at at 0800 GMT.

Source: EconomicTimes

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