“I believe the fall in both prices and volume of transactions is natural as the month of Ramadan approaches,” Saudi analyst Turki Fadaak said.

Saudi Arabia’s index declined 0.18 percent, retreating for a third session out of four. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed with a minor loss of 11.62 points at 6,323.95 points.

The sector activity for the day was mostly negative with 12 losing sectors out of 15 sectors. The losing sectors for the day ranged from -0.01percent by the transport sector to — 0.79 percent by the telecommunication and information technology sector. On the other hand, the three gaining sectors were building and construction sector, petrochemical industries sector and media and publishing sector with respective gains of 0.24 percent, 0.33 percent and 0.78 percent. The overall market breadth for the day was negative with 37 advancers against 87 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 0.42.

Fadaak believed Arab stocks, particularly in the Gulf area would be lackluster during Ramadan, when many investors prefer to remain on the sidelines and focus effort on worships accompany the fasting month.

However, he expected Saudi shares to pick up after Ramadan, buoyed by the petrochemical and banking sectors, barring any negative shocks on global markets.

The Dubai exchange was the main loser on Sunday, with the market’s benchmark losing 1.59 per cent and closing below the psychological level of 1,500 points at 1,494 points, due to fallout from the persistent Dubai World debt crisis, analysts said.

The Abu Dhabi all-share index edged lower, closing at 2,526 points compared with the previous close of 2,529 points.

Kuwait’s KSE all-share index also was marginally lower on Sunday, closing at 6,662 points from 6,666 points the close of the previous session.

Jordanian shares were the only gainer in the Arab region on Sunday. The all-share index of the Amman Stock Exchange went up 0.12 per cent.

Egypt’s AGX30, which measures the performance of the market’s 30 most active stocks, shed 1 per cent on Sunday, closing at 6,339 points due to selling by local and foreign investors, analysts said.

Qatar’s all-share index also fell 0.32 per cent at the start of the trading week, closing at 7,111 points.

Oman’s bourse traded flat, as investors awaited. “Omani markets expect the results of bigwigs like Omantel, Galfar Engineering, Renaissance Services and Al Hassan Engineering during this week,” said Kanaga Sundar, senior research analyst at Gulf Baader Capital Markets in Oman.

— With input from agencies