Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates ended lower on Sunday, pulled down by banking shares after Moody's revised its outlook for some lenders, while Egypt suffered a sell-off in blue chips.

In Dubai, the index dropped 0.9%, with Emirates NBD shedding 3.9%, its biggest intraday fall since May, while sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) was down 2.5%.

Rating agency Moody's changed its outlook to negative from stable for eight banks in the United Arab Emirates due to the coronavirus outbreak, it said on Friday. 

The banks include Emirates NBD and DIB.

The Abu Dhabi index slipped 0.2%, hurt by a 0.7% drop Emirates Telecommunications and a 0.6% drop in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB).

ADCB is amongst those banks for which Moody's revised its outlook to negative from stable.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index gave up early gains to close 0.1% down. Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services 4013.SE declined 2.7%, while oil giant Saudi Aramco was down 0.6 percent.

The blue-chip index in Egypt, with its most important sector, fell 0.3%. Commercial International Bank COMI.CA slipped 0.4% and El Sewedy Electric slid 2.1%.

The Arab World's most populous nation has surpassed 50,000 cases of the new coronavirus.

The kingdom, which has recorded the highest cases of COVID-19 in the Gulf Cooperation Council, ends a nationwide curfew and lifts restrictions on businesses from Sunday after three months of lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus. 

In Qatar, the index eased 0.4%, with Qatar Islamic Bank losing 1.2% and petrochemical firm Industries Qatar was down 0.7%.

(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) ((AteeqUr.Shariff@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822788;))