Saudi Arabia's index fell to a five-week low as the world's top oil exporter belatedly reacted to crude's four-week, 12 percent slide and the consensus view is for further sideways regional trading. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed 0.34 percent down at 6,200.69 on Tuesday with losses in almost all sectors, except for two sectors, which were the Agricultural & Food Industries and the Real Estate Development sector, which were up 0.60 percent and 0.64 percent respectively. Otherwise, sector losses ranged from a loss of 0.09 points in the Retail sector to a loss of 1.51 percent in the Multi-Investment sector. Overall market breadth was negative with 24 advancers and 100 decliners registering an AD ratio of 0.24, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.

"Saudi had been a big outperformer year-to-date - even when oil slipped toward $70 we didn't follow," says a Riyadh analyst who asked not to be identified. "But there's now a lack of local news...Saudi could be re-coupling to international markets."

Kuwait's Agility rose 6.7 percent after saying it remained in negotiations over a US court case. The Kuwaiti index climbed 0.2 percent to 7,162 points.

Dubai's index was the biggest gainer, gaining 0.9 percent to 1,661 points in its sixth gain in seven sessions. Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) climbed 5.9 percent to a four-week high. Emaar Properties added 0.9 percent. Both firms have yet to announce earnings, with the deadline less than a week away.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank climbed 4.2 percent to an eight-week high after saying it may allow foreigners to hold shares. The Abu Dhabi index gained 0.6 percent to 2,719 points.   

Qatar National Bank fell 1.9 percent after going ex-dividend as traders cashed in Thursday's seven-week high. The Qatari index rose 0.04 percent to 6,763 points.

Market heavyweight Industries Qatar climbed 0.6 percent, extending its winning run after a tricky January. 

The Omani index rose 0.2 percent to 6,509 points and the Bahraini index climbed 0.6 percent to 1,515 points.

The Egypt's index fell 0.7 percent to 6,947 points.