Bloodbath in Gulf markets after Thursday's brief respite

ECO8Economy/InternationalBloodbath in Gulf markets after Thursday's brief respiteDubai, Oct 12 IANS Dashing all optimism after Thursday's resurgence, markets across the Gulf again plunged Sunday with the Dubai Financial Market DFM falling to a 43-month low.Even as new regulations Sunday fixed a limit to which the Dubai market can fall in a day, the DFM closed Sunday at 3,025.08 after touching 2,991.04, the lowest since March 2005.The only market to close on the green was the key Saudi Arabian Tadawul, which closed at 5,814.60 points, a marginal rise of 0.34 percent from Wednesday's close.Among the major gainers were Saudi Basic Properties, which climbed 8 percent, and Petro Rabigh 6.8 percent.In Dubai, real estate major Emaar Properties, which has a tie-up with India's MGF, fell 10 percent while low cost carrier Air Arabia lost 8.40 percent of its share value.As Gulf investors remained jittery over the global financial crisis, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange ADX fell to a year long low of 3,062.66, before closing at 3,133.51 points, 2.30 percent below Thursday's close.Except for the consumer index, which ended 1.54 percent from the last day's trade, all other indices closed in the red with the energy index falling the most by 3.85 percent.The key Kuwait Stock Exchange also fell 0.4 percent to end at 11,858.1 points.The Bahrain Stock Exchange touched a yearlong low during intra-day trading Sunday before closing at 2,311.15, 0.83 percent below Thursday's close.The Muscat Securities Exchange, which had posted the highest gain among the Gulf markets Thursday, fell 5.68 percent to close at 6,770.89 points.In Qatar, the Doha Securities Market closed at a year-long low of 7,029.95, down 7.18 percent from Thursday's close.The mayhem in the Gulf markets continued after a brief resurgence Thursday even after the central banks of three countries in the region - the United Arab Emirates UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain - announced interest rate cuts to restore investor confidence.--Indo-Asian News Serviceab/ank/dg365 Words*12101935