Egypt's bourse slipped on Sunday after a weekend of protests against Israel and clashes with police further dampened investor appetite, while Gulf markets were mixed as Europe's ongoing debt woes continued to worry investors world-wide.
Clashes that began on Friday around the Israeli embassy in Cairo pushed Israel to evacuate its ambassador from Egypt. Three people were killed and more than 1,000 injured.
"The market doesn't wait for any economic news anymore as most of what is happening is political," said Islam Abdelrahman, trader at Cairo Capital Securities.
The main index ended 1.2 percent lower, taking its 2011 losses to 34 percent. "Most brokers were expecting the market to fall 3 or 4 percent after what happened," said Abdelrahman.
Orascom Telecom fell 1.1 percent, after lifting the market on Thursday over reassuring results from Russia's Vimpelcom which owns a controlling stake in it.
In Dubai, real estate and construction stocks dragged the index 0.5 percent to its lowest close since August 25.
Developer Deyaar fell 2.6 percent, and Arabtec and Emaar Properties shed 0.7 percent each. "The global situation is still taking centre stage - a lot of investors are still on the sidelines waiting for direction," said Haissam Arabi, chief executive at Gulfmena Investments.
"Fundamentally we are strong and cheaper every day. Unfortunately, we are very much correlated with the euro zone. "My outlook is little bit grim although we might prove to be resilient, more so than other markets in the next few months, but that doesn't mean (regional markets) won't be pressured on the downside," Arabi added.
Abu Dhabi's benchmark shed 0.2 percent, down in five of the last six sessions. Aldar Properties declined 1.6 percent and First Gulf Bank dropped 2.6 percent.
In Kuwait, logistics operator Agility surged to a five-week high after a newspaper said it may compete in a bid for a $280 million stake sale in state-owned Kuwait Airways.
Agility, which has fallen after a US lawsuit, jumped 9.3 percent, helping lift the index to a five-week high.
"Any news on Agility is good news because the company has been ridden with bad news," said a Kuwait trader who declined to be named.
In Saudi Arabia, Kingdom Holding gained for a second day, up 1.3 percent, after it said on Saturday it would complete due diligence on its joint $950 million bid to buy a stake in telecoms operator Zain Saudi this month.
The benchmark ended higher for a third session, up 0.04 percent, trimming its 2011 losses to 7.2 percent.
Saudi Integrated Telecom Company, which listed in June, was the most traded stock as it climbed 3.2 percent. Qatar's benchmark rose 0.1 percent but Oman's bourse lost 0.4 percent.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.