Abu Dhabi-listed shares slid off the previous day's record highs on Tuesday and Gulf markets struggled to make much headway as fears grew that new coronavirus outbreaks in various parts of the world would dampen the oil and tourism outlook.

Outbreaks of the highly contagious COVID-19 variant Delta have sparked new mobility restrictions around the world, weighing on oil prices, a key catalyst for Gulf markets. Brent crude futures were down 26 cents, or 0.4% to $74.42 a barrel by 0850 GMT after slumping 2% on Monday. 

Dubai and the rest of the United Arab Emirates are also heavily reliant on tourism.

Abu Dhabi's emirate's office said that from August 20, people could only access certain public spaces, including schools, universities and nurseries, if they were vaccinated. 

The Abu Dhabi equity index took the biggest hit, losing 0.3%, a day after it hit a record high. The gains had been driven by International Holding Company (IHC) which became the emirate's most valuable company after the listing of its subsidiary Alpha Dhabi Holding.

On Tuesday IHC retreated 0.6%, on track to snap two sessions of gains.

Other bourses were lacklustre too, with Saudi Arabia's benchmark up 0.1%, boosted by a 0.5% gain in the kingdom's largest lender Saudi National Bank.

Dubai's main share index edged up 0.1%, helped by a 1% rise in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties.

Emaar has hired banks to arrange an issuance of U.S. dollar-denominated 10-year sukuk, or Islamic bonds, a document showed on Monday. 

Qatari shares added 0.3%, led by Commercial Bank, which was up 1.5% and Qatar International Islamic Bank which added 0.3%.

The latter's board proposed letting foreign investors own up to 100% of the lender's capital from 49% earlier.  

 

(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; editing by Philippa Fletcher) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))