Stock News: Gulf Markets Stabilise After Sharp Drops

Gulf stock markets were relatively calm in early trade on Wednesday after falling sharply in the previous session when Brent crude oil fell below $60 per barrel. A wave of panic selling wiped out $49 billion of stock market value across the Gulf Arab economies on Tuesday.

Dubai’s stock index, which tumbled 7.3 per cent on Tuesday and was down 28 per cent this month, rose 0.7 per cent as half of traded stocks gained.

Local investors hope that foreigners looking to exit the market before the end of the year have already done so and that selling pressure will now subside, said Sanyalak Manibhandu, manager of research at NBAD Securities in Abu Dhabi.

Also, some may be betting that money from Emaar Properties’ Dhs9 billion ($2.5 billion) dividend payout on Dec. 23 will be partly reinvested on the market.

“Valuations are now very attractive compared to what they were early in the year,” Manibhandu said. However, “going forward, for sustainability you need to see crude prices not fall much from where they are now.”

Abu Dhabi’s index rose 2.6 per cent and Oman’s bourse edged up 0.2 per cent. Qatar inched up 0.1 per cent and Kuwait edged down 0.4 per cent.