Middle East markets were mixed. Saudi Arabia's index fell for a sixth trading day in seven as trading slumped to a 23-month low, while Kuwait and Oman also ended lower.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) fell 0.24 percent to close at 6,158.04 points.
Sector activity for the day was widely negative with 12 out of 15 sectors closing with losses ranging from 0.08 percent by the Telecommunication & Information Technology sector to 0.74 percent by the Agriculture & Food Industries sector. On the other hand the gains were seen in only three sectors namely Insurance sector, Banks & Financial Services sector with 0.10 percent gains and 0.70 percent gains by retail sector. The overall market breadth for the day was heavily positive with 36 advancers against 87 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 0.41, the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market report.
The market liquidity for the day reached only SR1.34 billion as compared to Sunday's liquidity of SR1.82 billion.
"The key word in regional markets is volumes, which are low and will remain a concern everywhere including Saudi Arabia," said Saleh Al-Onazi, vice-president of principal investment at Swicorp in Riyadh.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) fell 0.6 percent and SABB dropped 0.9 percent as Saudi Arabia's index resumed its slide.
"People are being a lot more cautious," said a Riyadh-based analyst who asked not to be identified. "They realize there is a lot of volatility abroad so when there's good news on the global economy one day, they're not jumping back into the local market because the next day will probably bring some bad news."
Agility fell 2.1 percent. Agility posted a 52-percent fall in second-quarter profit.
The Kuwaiti index fell 0.2 percent to 6,648 points.
Egypt's benchmark index tracked world stocks lower, declining for a fourth session.
"The bad sentiment coming from abroad generally and the United States specifically is overshadowing positive earnings growth and strong fundamentals," said Osama Mourad of Arab Finance Brokerage.
El Sewedy Cables fell 0.7 percent, despite reporting a 53 percent jump in second-quarter profit, beating forecasts.
Qatar Fuel Co. climbed 1.5 percent and Barwa Real Estate added 0.3 percent after each reported earnings. The latter's quarterly profit rose 44 percent.
"Barwa and Qatar Fuel both announced very good results, but there hasn't been much reaction because the market is very quiet," said Mohamed Abu Ghoush, head of equities brokerage at Ahli Bank.
Qatar's benchmark rose 0.3 percent to 7,042 points.
The Dubai index rose 0.6 percent to 1,474 points. The Abu Dhabi index gained 0.3 percent to 2,494 points.
The Omani index dropped 0.4 percent to 6,276 points.
- With input from agencies
