Gulf stock markets closed lower on Tuesday, tracking a slump in global markets following confirmation that the United States is in a recession. The retreat was led by the Saudi bourse, the largest in the Arab world, where the Tadawul All-Shares Index closed 4.33 percent lower at 4,588.26 points, with all sectors in negative territory. The TASI, which had started trading with a loss of six percent, was dragged down by the leading petrochemicals and banking sectors, which dropped 5.6 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively. Market leader SABIC was down 3.4 percent. The Kuwait Stock Exchange fell one percent to 8,763.70 points, pulled down by the leading banking and investment sectors, which shed two percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. It appeared to have ignored Kuwaiti media reports that the government has given the green light for a special $7.3 billion (5.7 billion euro) fund to buy stocks to lift the sagging market. Doha Securities Market was down 3.26 percent to below the key 6,000-point mark, while Muscat Securities Market was one percent lower and Bahrain Stock Exchange lost 0.6 percent. The Dubai and Abu Dhabi were closed for a national holiday in the United Arab Emirates. However, US and European shares rebounded on Tuesday a day after a massive sell-off, while rising government debt prices suggest the fear of a prolonged global recession remains a major concern among investors. The dollar fell against the euro and a basket of currencies as rising stocks encouraged investors to emerge from the perceived shelter of US assets. The dollar fell against a basket of major currencies, with the US Dollar Index down 0.55 percent at 86.541. Against the yen, the dollar rose 0.32 percent at 93.51. The euro gained 0.72 percent at $1.2716. Crude oil hit a new 3-1/2-year low below $48 a barrel before paring losses in response to the transatlantic rally in equities. US light sweet crude oil fell 33 cents to $48.95 per barrel, after earlier trading as low as $47.36. US light crude for January delivery was down 54 cents at $48.74 a barrel by 1606 GMT. It earlier touched a new 3-1/2 year low of $47.36, its lowest since May 2005. Prices had dropped nearly 10 percent on Monday. London Brent crude was down 69 cents at $47.28 a barrel after touching a low of $46.02, its lowest since February 2005. “The equity market has been a main input for oil,” said Olivier Jakob, of consultancy Petromatrix. “Because the slowdown in oil demand is linked to the global economy - that's why the correlation is very strong.” Spot gold prices rose $11.70 to $781.25 an ounce. Investor sentiment mostly hinged on the performance of equity markets. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 226.83 points, or 2.78 percent, at 8,375.92. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 27.39 points, or 3.36 percent, at 843.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 45.50 points, or 3.25 percent, at 1,443.57. In Europe, banks recovered after earlier falls and energy shares rose. Asian equities slid overnight. The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan dropped about 4.5 percent, taking this year's losses to nearly 60 percent. Nikkei average tumbled 6.4 percent as the yen's surge added to the pain for the country's big exporters.
