Abu Dhabi extends slide, tracks Dubai fall

Abu Dhabi's benchmark declines for a fifth session as nine of the 10 largest stocks decline, tracking losses on the neighbouring Dubai bourse as downbeat global markets and earnings worries weigh. Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) falls 1.4 per cent, National Bank of Abu Dhabi drops 2.1 per cent and Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) loses 5.6 per cent. Dana Gas drops 4 per cent. "The UAE markets seem correlated to weakness in global markets and the below-forecast earnings from most Saudi companies which have announced so far," says Chamel Fahmy, Beltone Financial regional senior sales trader. "Technically, most of the graphs also show the markets have further downside potential, so we've seen across the board today on UAE markets" The index falls 1.2 per cent to 2,674 points. Losers outnumber gainers 20 to four. Investors sold shares globally on Friday, stepping up bids for safe-haven bonds and the US dollar after JPMorgan & Co reported deep losses on loans and its revenue fell short of Wall Street's expectations.