Major Gulf stock markets fell sharply in early trade on Wednesday after stimulus measures failed to soothe investors worried about the global economic impact from the coronavirus.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), whose currencies are pegged to the dollar, cut key rates by 50 basis points on Tuesday, tracking the U.S. Federal Reserve's emergency move to soften the impact of the epidemic.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have begun to feel the virus' impact on exports and tourism as growth in their private sectors slipped in February, according to a survey by IHS Markit.
Major concerts and sporting events have also been cancelled or postponed in Gulf Arab states, where more than 2,400 cases of the virus, mostly in Iran have been reported.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index fell 1.7%, with financials and petrochemical shares leading declines.
Al Rajhi Bank declined 2.8%, while the country's largest lender National Commercial Bank shed 2.3%.
Saudi Basic Industries, which on Tuesday said that it had raised its stake in Swiss chemicals maker Clariant to 31.5% from 25%, slid 1.7%.
The state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco fell 0.6% to 32.85 riyals ($8.76).
Among the index's few gainers was Saudi Cement which rose 3.1% after reporting a more than 12% increase in its 2019 profit to 451.4 million riyals.
In Abu Dhabi, the index fell 2.5%, hurt by First Abu Dhabi Bank, which plunged 5.3% to its lowest since July 24, 2018. The stock traded ex-dividend.
Aldar Properties and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank shed 1.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
The Dubai index lost 2%, with the biggest lender Emirates NBD falling 3.7% and the blue-chip developer Emaar Properties declining 2.9%.
The Qatari index slipped 0.4%, weighed down by a 4.8% fall in United Development Company after it went ex-dividend.
($1 = 3.7518 riyals)
(Reporting by Maqsood Alam in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V) ((Maqsood.Alam@thomsonreuters.com;))
