Dubai bourse at six year low, markets slide

Markets in the Middle East extend losses, with no sign of selling pressure easing as deadly unrest sweeping the region spooks investors. Dubai's benchmark slides 3.2 per cent to 1,420 points, slumping to a six-year low. Fourteen stocks lose more than 3 per cent, including contractor Drake & Scll, down 8.5 per cent, and builder Arabtec, down 5.6 per cent. "Egypt's bourse is opening on Tuesday and there are a lot of uncertainties that can affect our markets," says Mohammed Yasin, CAPM Investment chief investment officer.

"Bargain hunters are around, but they are waiting for events to unfold and to get the best possible price." Qatar's index falls 4.2 per cent to 7,849 points, a 16-week low. Oman's measure drops 3.5 per cent to 6,235 points. Omani protesters demanding political reforms blocked roads leading to a main export port and refinery on Monday as the death toll from Sunday clashes with police in the Gulf Arab sultanate rose to six. Libyan rebels awaited a counter-attack by Muammar Gaddafi's forces on Monday, after the country's leader defied demands that he quit to end the bloodiest of the Arab world's wave of uprisings.