Dubai's stock market fell sharply on Monday in its fourth straight day of losses, as weak property stocks continued to pressure it, while other major Gulf markets slipped.
Brent crude oil rose on Monday after producer club OPEC and some non-affiliated suppliers last Friday agreed to a supply cut, but despite this, the outlook for next year remains muted on the back of an economic slowdown.
In Dubai, the Index fell 1.4 percent, continuing to hover at its lowest level in more than five years. Union Properties slumped 5.5 percent hitting a more than five year low, while DAMAC Properties lost 3 percent, its lowest since February 1, 2015.
But, Islamic Arab Insurance rose 6.3 percent after Goldilocks Investment Company, a unit of Abu Dhabi Financial Group, increased its ownership in the firm to 14.1 percent.
The Abu Dhabi index lost 0.5 percent with Eshraq Properties diving 7.8 percent.
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank shed 2.5 percent. The bank's Egyptian unit Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Egypt said on Sunday that it expected a fall of up to 8 percent in its 2019 profit due to tax changes in Egypt.
Union Insurance plunged 10 percent in weak trade to hit a record low of 0.78 dirham.
The Saudi index was flat after four straight days of losses. Bupa Arabia For Cooperative Insurance Company gained 3.3 percent after it said it will provide health insurance services to National Commercial Bank's employees and their families for 2019. National Commercial Bank added 0.4 percent.
Saudi exchange data on Sunday showed that foreigners bought a 333.4 million riyals ($88.87 million) of stocks on a net basis last week.
Qatar's index shed 0.5 percent with telecommunications firm Ooredoo falling 1.1 percent and Vodafone Qatar losing 1.1 percent.
Qatar Commercial Bank fell 0.7 percent. Its chief executive said the bank could raise up to $1 billion in debt next year by tapping a range of various debt instruments, as the country's third-largest lender by assets aims to further diversify its funding sources.
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