Dubai leads most Gulf indexes lower

• All real estate shares decline in Dubai

• Moody's downgrades Kuwait on liquidity squeeze, weak governance

DUBAI: Most Gulf markets ended lower on Thursday, with Dubai taking the hardest hit from losses in real estate shares, a day after the United Arab Emirates reported its sharpest daily spike in coronavirus cases.

The Gulf Arab state on Wednesday reported 1,083 new cases, with authorities attributing the recent surge of infections to people not adhering to social distancing measures.

Dubai's main share index declined 1.5%, weighed down by a 2.4% fall in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties and a 1.4% decrease in Emirates NBD Bank.

In Abu Dhabi, the index slipped 0.5%, driven down by a 0.9% fall in the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank and a 1.5% fall in Aldar Properties.

The UAE has recorded 87,530 infections and 406 deaths from Covid-19 so far. The government does not disclose where in the country of seven emirates infections or deaths occurred.

The benchmark index in Saudi Arabia, which traded after a day's break, was down 0.1%. Petrochemical maker Saudi Basic Industries dropped 0.9%, while Samba Financial Group retreated 1.5%.

Najran Cement, however, surged 9.9% after it proposed first-half dividend of 0.75 riyal per share.

Kuwait's index fell 0.3%, as most of the stocks on the index were in negative territory.

Moody's downgraded Kuwait's rating citing higher liquidity risks and weaker governance and institutional strength, as the Gulf state, battered by low oil prices, struggles to pass a law allowing it to issue international debt.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index declined 0.6%, with Cleopatra Hospital shedding 2.8% and investment bank EFG Hermes losing 1.8%.