DUBAI - Dubai stocks were down in morning trade on Tuesday, hit by weakness in key property stocks and extended losses in Air Arabia, but Abu Dhabi stocks posted modest gains, coming back from bank-led selling a day earlier.

Riyadh, the region's biggest stock market, and Qatar are closed for holidays to mark the Muslim festival of Eid.

Dubai's index was down 0.3 percent. Shares of Air Arabia were down about 1 percent, after falling sharply a day earlier on concerns about its exposure to private equity firm Abraaj, which has filed for provisional liquidation.

Emaar Properties was down 0.6 percent and DXB Entertainment dropped 1.5 percent.

The Abu Dhabi exchange was up 0.2 percent after it fell a day earlier on weakness in banking stocks. Telecommunications giant Etisalat rose almost 1 percent, while Waha Capital gained 7 percent, recovering from a slump a day earlier.

Weak oil prices hurt energy stocks led by Abu Dhabi National Energy Co, which was trading 4.9 percent lower. Oil prices fell on Tuesday as an escalating trade dispute between the United States and China triggered sharp sell-offs in many global markets.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar Editing by Andrew Heavens) ((Saeed.Azhar@thomsonreuters.com; +971 44536787; Reuters Messaging: saeed.azhar.reuters.com@reuters.net))