JEDDAH: Stock markets in Saudi Arabia and Dubai fell on Thursday in response to low oil prices, while Egypt’s market held steady in the face of uncertainty over exchange and interest rates.

Brent oil slipped to a two-month low just above $45 a barrel on Thursday, fueling concern about austerity steps that governments in the region may be forced to take next year.

The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index, which surged 2.0 percent on Wednesday, dropped 0.6 percent. Miner Maaden sank 3.1 percent.

Some major petrochemical stocks such as Saudi Basic Industries were flat, while Saudi Telecom added 2.7 percent. It had surged its 10 percent daily limit on Wednesday after pledging to pay a minimum quarterly dividend for the next three years.

Dubai’s index dropped 1.5 percent to 3,265 points.

Arabtec continued sliding, plunging its 10 percent daily limit, after reporting a big quarterly loss on Wednesday, citing poor industry conditions in the region.

Fellow construction firm Drake & Scull fell 5.2 percent.

GFH Financial slid 5.3 percent to a record low of AED0.45.

The company reported a third-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of $800,000 versus $6.0 million a year earlier, citing one-off gains in the year-earlier period.

Abu Dhabi’s index edged down 0.3 percent as Etisalat lost 1.0 percent.

Qatar edged down 0.2 percent as Vodafone Qatar, that market’s most active stock, dropped 2.4 percent. It reported a quarterly net loss of 113.6 million riyals ($31.2 million). Analysts had forecast 90.0-102.2 million riyals.

Qatar National Bank rose 1.5 percent.

Egypt’s stock market edged up 0.1 percent after tumbling 10 percent over the previous four days because of fears of a possible currency devaluation or interest rate hike, or possibly both.

Some bankers believe authorities may be preparing to float the Egyptian pound — a step that could help to solve Egypt’s hard currency shortage in the long run, but would be risky in the short term.

On Thursday, the pound was steady at a central bank auction and stronger in the parallel market, and Treasury bill yields dropped marginally at an auction, which suggested the panic had eased, at least temporarily.

Property developer Medinet Nasr climbed 1.8 percent despite reporting nine-month profit fell to 154 million pounds ($19 million) from 162 million pounds.

Auto distributor GB Auto fell 2.5 percent after saying third-quarter profit jumped nearly 90 percent compared to a year earlier.

Investment bank EFG Hermes lost 1.8 percent after reporting a rise in third-quarter net profit to 120 million pounds from 100 million.