DUBAI: Stock markets in Dubai and Saudi Arabia may slide further on Monday after both closed near their daily lows on Sunday, and as the global background appears unsupportive.
A diplomatic reconciliation with its neighbours could lift the mood in Qatar. Dubai’s index fell 1.2 percent and closed on its intra-day low of 4,603 points on Sunday as Arabtec tumbled 5.9 percent after its third-quarter profit missed analysts’ estimates.
Saudi Arabia’s index lost 1.3 percent and closed at 9,554 points, not far from the intra-day low of 9,525 points, after shares in Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Ma’aden), whose price was reduced by 7.5 percent to reflect dilution from a rights issue, fell a further 2.9 percent.
On global markets, Japanese stocks are dropping on Monday on news the country has slipped into recession, and other Asian equities are edging down.
Brent crude oil fell to $79 a barrel following the news from Japan.
In a positive development for Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed on Sunday night to return their ambassadors to Doha, signalling an end to an eight-month rift over its support for Islamist groups.
In March, when Qatar’s neighbours withdrew their ambassadors, the Doha benchmark briefly dropped 3.0 percent on the news.
Qatar’s market has moved little in the last five sessions and gave up most of its daily gains on Sunday after failing to break through resistance at its October high of 13,831 points.
Copyright Reuters, 2014