Gulf stock markets inched down in early trade Monday as investors remain concerned about the outlook for the Saudi Arabian market, where shares have been falling because of concern about next year's state budget. The Saudi index closed down 1.4 percent on Sunday, bringing its losses over four trading days to 6.7 percent, on worries that low oil prices would force Riyadh into spending cuts and tax increases. Saudi Arabia's weakness is dampening the entire region, even in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, which are relatively well placed to cope with an era of cheap oil. Dubai's index dropped 1.0 percent in the first 45 minutes of trade. HITS Telecom, which soared 10.2 percent on Sunday, was the most heavily traded stock and added a further 1.5 percent to 0.40 dirham as speculators bet that a long-term downtrend from around 1.20 dirhams in January 2012 might be ending. Abu Dhabi slipped 0.4 percent as blue chip Aldar Properties fell 1.3 percent. Qatar edged down 0.3 percent as drilling rig provider Gulf International Services fell 2.6 percent after reporting a 32 percent drop in third-quarter net profit to 216.9 million riyals ($59.6 million). QNB Financial Services had forecast 208.7 million riyals. But Doha Bank edged up 0.2 percent despite missing estimates with a 2 percent decline in third-quarter profit to 341 million riyals. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast 358 million riyals. Source: Reuters
