Most Gulf stocks hit by sell-off, but Saudi rallies

A major sell-off hit most of the Gulf Arab region on Sunday, as investors overlooked some positive earning results following a sharp drop on Wall Street.

Dubai led the losers, posting a 5.5 per cent slide, its biggest one-day fall since mid-August.

"The whole market was down due to movements in the international markets, its psychological," said Moussa Haddad, head of the Middle East equities trading desk at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

"A correction in the market is long overdue," said Ayman El Saheb, director of operations at Darahem Financial Brokerage.

Telecoms company du ended 4.9 per cent lower, despite an increase in third-quarter net profit, albeit on very low volumes.

Shuaa Capital posted the biggest decline in Dubai, falling 9.7 per cent, after reporting a narrower loss for the third quarter.

"Fundamentally, we're stronger than the US market, but investors are not looking at our own companies, our technicals, but following moves in the international markets," Haddad said.

Saudi Arabia bucked the regional trend and was the only Gulf market to end the session higher.

The index rebounded from Saturday's slide, when it posted its biggest single-day drop since June. Despite the sharp downward trend, analysts remain bullish on the future.

"In general, for the medium and long term, the market trend is still upward," said Youssef Kassantini, head of discretionary portfolio management at Rasmala Investment Saudi. "The volumes are not high on the selling though so I think this will only be for a couple of days," Haddad said.

In Qatar, the main index fell 3.5 per cent, led by some of the heavyweights such as Industries Qatar, which retreated 4.5 per cent.

In Abu Dhabi, property stocks weighed on the index, which fell 3.4 per cent.

Aldar Properties and Sorouh Properties declined 8.3 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively.

Bourses in Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain also traded lower, but not as sharply as in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.