Middle East shares decline

Stock markets in the Middle East retreated yesterday, as an emergency rate cut from the US Federal Reserve failed to quell investor nerves over the coronavirus’s widening global economic fallout. The World Health Organisation warned on Tuesday of a global shortage and price gouging for protective equipment to fight the fast-spreading virus.

It asked companies and governments to increase production by 40 per cent as the death toll from the respiratory illness mounted. Dubai’s main share index ended 2.2pc lower, dragged down by a 3.8pc fall in bluechip developer Emaar Properties and a 2.5pc drop in Emirates NBD Bank. The Abu Dhabi index slid 2.8pc, with First Abu Dhabi Bank tumbling 5pc, reaching its lowest level since July 2018.

The UAE’s largest lender traded ex-dividend. Among others, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank was down 2.8pc. Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index fell 0.4pc. Samba Financial Group dropped 4.1pc, while the country’s largest lender National Commercial Bank shed 1.9pc. The kingdom, which reported its first case of coronavirus on Monday, has temporarily suspended Umrah pilgrimages for Saudi citizens and residents of the country due to coronavirus concerns, state news agency SPA said on Wednesday.

In Qatar, the index slipped 0.1pc, hit by a 5.2pc slide in Qatar Fuel Company and a 6.9pc plunge in United Development, as the stock traded ex-dividend. However, the index’s fall was cushioned by gains at Qatar National Bank, which rose 2.8pc. Qatar’s central bank said on Wednesday it was cutting deposit rates by 50 basis pts (bps) to 1.5pc. Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index retreated 1.9pc, pressured by a 3pc fall in Commercial International Bank and a 5.5pc plunge in Credit Agricole Egypt.