No let-up in stocks sell-off in Gulf Arab markets

Stock indexes in Gulf states continued to drop Monday in a global sell-off wave after oil prices hit new lows, with Saudi stocks leading the losses.

After tumbling nearly seven percent on the previous trading day, the Saudi Arabian Tadawul All-Share Index in Riyadh lost another 5.88 percent on Monday, finishing at 7,024.60 points, hitting the lowest level in over two and a half years.

The Saudi stocks remain deep in the bearish territory.

So far, "the Saudi bourse has lost over 50 billion U.S. dollars of market capitalization so far in August," said Dr. Nasser Saidi, an independent economist based in Dubai.

The collapse of oil prices is one of the factors behind the drop of the the stock market.

Oil prices entered the eighth consecutive week of losses, hitting below 40 dollars per barrel, the lowest level since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Saidi said the trend is estimated to continue, as the futures market shows that crude oil prices in 2020 will cost only about 20 U.S. dollars a barrel more than the current prices.

"Gold on the contrary has benefitted from the global uncertainty and fears of currency wars," the economist said.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index (DFMGI) closed 1.44 percent lower at 3,401.62 points on Monday, while the Abu Dhabi market measure ADXGI slipped 0.51 percent, finishing at 4,264.80 points.

Both were reaching a five-month low due to heavy sell-offs.

The DFMGI recovered after the opening and rose temporarily into the green territory, but selling pressure eventually pulled the market down for the third consecutive trading day.

The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 Index closed 1.73 percent lower at 3,256.97 points.

The shares of Dubai port operator DP World, the third biggest in the world, closed 4.95 percent lower at 18.61 U.S. dollars a share amid worries over the global economy.

Gary Dugan, chief investment officer at National Bank of Abu Dhabi,told Dubai daily Gulf news that the slump in financial markets will have a spillover effect on the real economy worldwide.

In Kuwait, the KSE market Index lost 1.58 percent while the Omani MSM-30 Index in Muscat plummeted nearly three percent.

The Doha-based Qatar Exchange 30 Index fell by 1.65 percent to finish at 10,572.50 points.

World stock markets were also crushed on Monday.

Chinese stock markets had their worst day in eight years on Monday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index tumbling 8.49 percent.

Investors in the U.S. and European stock markets rallied to sell their equities, with the Dow tumbling 3.58 percent and Europe's benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 losing 5.61 percent. Endi