Saudi Arabia's index TASI opened lower mirroring similar sentiment in other Gulf markets as index heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries Corp dropped 0.3 percent. The index TASI dropped 0.3 percent. Financial stocks also dropped with Kingdom Holding falling 1.3 percent and Samba Financial Group falling 0.9 percent. Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) fell 0.2 percent despite JP Morgan Securities initiating coverage of the mobile phone operator with “overweight” rating. The brokerage has a price target of 11 riyals on the company. Investors continued to dump property stocks pulling Dubai DFM and Abu Dhabi ADI indices lower. Aldar Properties fell 2.9 percent and was the top loser on the Abu Dhabi index while Emaar Properties was down 1.4 percent in Dubai. Banking stocks also fell with Dubai Islamic Bank down 0.9 percent and Ajman Bank falling 2.5 percent. The broader Dubai measure was 1.1 percent lower at 1,568 points, and Abu Dhabi's index retreated 0.6 percent to 2,733 points. Qatar's index slumped 1.6 percent as banking stocks retreated, led by Qatar Islamic Bank which dropped 9 percent since declaring a 60 percent cash dividend. The Qatar index is not dividend-adjusted hence dividend payouts can impact share prices. Other banking stocks also fell with Doha Bank falling 3.1 percent and Qatar Commercial Bank down 1.9 percent.
