Stock news: Gulf markets fall on Greece turmoil

Gulf stock markets fell again early on Monday in response to the turmoil in Greece, where the government imposed capital controls and shut banks for a week, raising the prospect of the country leaving the euro zone.

Dubai’s stock index, usually the most volatile in the region, slid 1.3 per cent to 4,003. It is heading for a second straight daily close below its 200-day average, now at 4,077, which would be technically bearish.

Amlak Finance, which led Dubai up earlier this month in speculative trade, sank 6.9 per cent in heavy turnover. Blue chip Emaar Properties, which could see European investors’ demand for its real estate hit by any fresh euro zone crisis, lost 1.8 per cent.

Abu Dhabi slid 1.1 per cent as telecommunications firm Etisalat dropped 2.1 per cent after saying another planned earnings restatement by its Saudi Arabian unit Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), and Mobily’s plan to take provisions for receivables from another operator, would hurt its own earnings.

Qatar, often the least volatile Gulf market because of its high dividend yields, dropped 0.4 per cent.

The Gulf is better insulated from any Greek exit from the euro than many areas of the world, because it is not dependent on foreign investment and governments can use huge fiscal reserves to continue spending heavily.

But market sentiment in the region was dampened by a broad slide in Asian stocks on Monday morning and by a roughly one per cent drop in Brent crude oil into the $62 a barrel range.