Dubai leads Gulf markets' retreat, blue-chips hurt Egypt

Major Middle Eastern stock markets ended lower on Monday, with Dubai leading the losses as most of its property shares retreated.

In Dubai, where real estate market has been sluggish, the index declined 0.9%, dragged down by a 2.2% fall in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 1.4% decline in Emirates NBD Bank.

On Friday, S&P Global downgraded Emaar to a BB+ "junk" rating from an investment grade BBB- score.

It said it expected a 30%-40% slump in Emaar's earnings in 2020, and a 15%-20% dive in overall revenue, while the anticipated recovery next year would only be partial.

Dubai-based investment bank Arqaam Capital said in a research note on Sunday that it slashed target price on Emaar Development to 3.1 dirhams, while maintaining 'buy' rating. The real estate firm was down 1.4%.

The benchmark index in Saudi Arabia fell 0.3%. Al Rajhi Bank lost 0.7% and oil behemoth Saudi Aramco decreased 0.5%.

But Saudi Fisheries advanced 4% following a decrease in its accumulated losses to 15.15% of the capital.

The Abu Dhabi index eased 0.2%, hurt by a 1.2% fall in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

In Qatar, the index dropped 0.4%, with Qatar Islamic Bank losing 1.3%, while Qatar National Bank, the Gulf's largest lender, slipped 0.4%.

On Sunday, the Qatar National Bank reported a fall in second-quarter profit after it booked sharply higher loan loss provisions due to the global economic conditions.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index lost 0.6%, as most of its constituents ended in negative territory. Commercial International Bank dropped 1.7%, whereas tobacco monopoly Eastern Company slid 3.7%.