Property stocks weigh as Dubai hits 12-month low; Gulf markets weak

Dubai’s index hit a 12-month low and other Gulf markets also retreated early Monday as a renewed slump in oil prices prompted traders to sell stocks.

Dubai’s index fell 2 percent, tumbling to its lowest level since December last year to take its 2015 losses to 17.5 percent.

Construction and real estate stocks were the biggest drags. Heavyweight Emaar Properties dropped 3.1 percent, contractor Drake and Scull shed 3.8 percent and builder Arabtec dipped 0.9 percent.

Drake and Scull is suffering from a decline in construction activity in the oil and gas sector, while overall competition is also becoming fiercer, a report from Global Data said on Thursday.

Abu Dhabi’s bourse slid 0.8 percent to a three-week low. Dana Gas, the most traded stock accounting for more than a third of shares changing hands, fell 4.2 percent.

Crude oil prices are down on Monday, the first session since OPEC failed to agree on output targets to reduce a bulging glut that has cut prices by more than 60 percent since June 2014.

The Qatar and Kuwait benchmarks fell 0.6 and 0.2 percent respectively.

Source: Reuters