Most Middle East bourses fell on similar sentiment, with
trade slack on the first day of the Muslim month of Ramadan.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) fell 1.7 percent,
weighing on the index, which dropped 1.2 percent. The Tadawul All-Share Index
(TASI) closed 1.21 percent down at 6,187.97 points. The sector activity for the
day was negatively biased with all sectors closing with losses ranging from
0.04 percent by the Retail sector to 1.97 percent by the Insurance sector. The
overall market breadth for the day also remained heavily negative with only 6 advancers
against 129 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 0.046, the Financial Transaction
House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.
Over SR2.73 billion worth of shares changed hands on
Wednesday.
"The market is down after new signs of a slowing
global economic recovery," said Youssef Kassantini, an independent
financial analyst, while falling crude prices also spurred selling in the
world's top oil exporter.
Saudi retail investors also sold shares to free up cash
for Ramadan, he added.
Shuaa Capital fell 4.6 percent to a 16-month closing low
in Dubai after the investment bank posted a second-quarter loss.
Dubai's index fell 0.9 percent to 1,483 points.
"Fundamentals aren't screaming out for a floor in
the market," said Zahed Chowdhury of Al-Mal Capital.
"Dubai's issues are ... a contagion from
construction and real estate affecting banks and financial companies. You can
argue we've reached a trough in terms of asset values, but bank loan growth
hasn't been positive enough and the shape of a recovery doesn't seem to be
steep. If anything, we're looking at flat growth for the rest of the
year."
The Abu Dhabi index slipped 0.5 percent to 2,496 points.
Commercial Bank of Qatar fell 1 percent and Qatar Islamic
Bank dipped 0.5 percent, with lenders little moved by a central bank rate cut.
The Qatari index fell 0.3 percent to 7,104 points.
Kuwait's Zain fell 1.6 percent, slipping from Tuesday's
earnings-driven 11-week high.
The operator made a $2.95 billion quarterly profit
following its sale of African assets, but questions remain over its long-term
strategy, with Zain's footprint largely confined to the Middle East, plus
Sudan.
The Kuwaiti index fell 0.3 percent to 6,679 points.
The Omani index dropped 0.3 percent to 6,330 points.
The Bahraini index rose 0.09 percent to 1,409 points.
- With input from agencies
