Major Gulf stock markets were subdued on Thursday as the absence of some foreign investors due to year-end holidays dampened trading activity.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index inched down 0.1%, with Saudi Telecom dropping 1%, while state-owned Aramco eased 0.3% to 35.1 riyals ($9.35).

On Tuesday, Aramco said Goldman Sachs may stabilise its stock by purchasing additional shares on the market. The stabilisation period will end on Jan. 9, but so far no transactions have been executed.

Yanbu National Petrochemicals declined 1.1% after its board proposed a lower second-half dividend this year.

On the other hand, National Commercial Bank edged up 0.2% after the lender raised its dividend for the second half to 1.2 riyal per share.

In Dubai, the benchmark index was down 0.2%, with Dubai Islamic Bank slipping 0.5% and Mashreq Bank dropping 3.8%.

The Abu Dhabi index .ADI edged down 0.1% as telco Emirates Telecommunications lost 0.4%.

The United Arab Emirates' central bank said on Wednesday it expected gross domestic product to increase by 2% in the fourth quarter over the same period last year, Reuters reported citing state news agency WAM.

Qatar's main index slid 0.1%, hurt by a 0.9% fall in Qatar Electricity and Water and a 1% decrease in Qatar Navigation.

($1 = 3.7525 riyals)

(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918067497129;))