Most Middle Eastern stocks slid to new multi-year lows on Tuesday, as heightened fears of the coronavirus pandemic weighed on sentiment, while Saudi Arabia's Tadawul stock exchange, the region's biggest, took a breather after four sessions of losses. The number of cases of coronavirus in the Gulf rose to 1,042.
The Abu Dhabi index tumbled 6.3 per cent to 3,323 points, with the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank losing 9.9 per cent and telecoms firm Etisalat shedding 7.1 per cent.
In Dubai, the index lost 5 per cent, closing at 1,751 points - its lowest level since January 2013. Blue-chip developer Emaar Properties plunged 10 per cent, while Dubai's largest lender Emirates NBD closed down 5.4 per cent. The UAE, which has now reported 98 cases of coronavirus, has urged its citizens abroad to return home due to travel difficulties amid the spread of the virus and suspensions of flights from some countries. Egypt's index retreated 2.4 per cent to 9,202 points with 25 of 30 stocks in the red, including Talaat Mostafa, which slumped 8.9 per cent. Egypt, which has reported 166 cases of coronavirus, will halt all air traffic at its airports from Thursday until March 31 to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Monday.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index rose 2.5 per cent to 6,107 points, led by a 5.7 per cent rise in National Commercial Bank and a 4.7 per cent gain in Saudi Aramco. On Monday, Aramco's chief financial officer Khalid al-Dabbagh said the company was "very comfortable" with a $30 per barrel oil price and that it can meet its dividend commitments and shareholders' expectations even in the current low oil price environment.
Bahrain fell 1.1 per cent to 1,380 points and the Oman market slipped 0.6 per cent to 3,660 points but the Kuwait Premier Market gained 1 per cent to 4,707 points.
There were signs that the sell-off on global markets is beginning to ease elsewhere in Asia on Tuesday, with Hong Kong stocks snapping four sessions of falls. The Hang Seng index rose 0.9 per cent, Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose by 0.1 per cent and MSCI's Asia ex-Japan index closed down 0.1 per cent.
