Gulf Arab markets tumble on Greek surprise

The sharp rise at the Gulf Arab markets at the start of the week was only short-lived as Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou surprised the global markets when he called his citizens for a referendum on a bailout decided by the European Union (EU) leaders last week. All the Gulf Arab stock indexes ended in the red Tuesday, with the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) posting the largest loss, closing down 1.8 percent at 1,382.71 points. Shares of budget flyer Air Arabia declined 0.47 percent to 0.63 dirhams (about 0.17 U.S. dollars). Earlier in the day, Air Arabia reported a 26-percent net profit decrease to 100 million dirhams ( 27 million dollars), as competition gets increasingly fierce in the civil aviation sector in the Middle East. At the NASDAQ Dubai, the international exchange of the sheikhdom of Dubai, shares of ports operator Dubai Ports World bucked the negative trend by gaining half a percent to reach 11 U. S. dollars. The Abu Dhabi bourse's ADX General Index dipped 0.2 percent, ending at 2,496.37 points. Shares of Islamic insurer Abu Dhabi National Takaful, which were not traded, were valued at 6.25 dirhams (1.7 dollars). Earlier in the day, Abu Dhabi National Takaful reported that its third quarter profit climbed 31 percent to 21 million dirhams (5.7 million dollars). The Saudi Arabian market Tadawul in Riyadh fell 1.11 percent to 6,155.1 points. The Kuwait market KSE closed even at 5,916.10 points, while the Bahrain Bourse in Manama declined 0.11 percent to 1,146.39 points. Nevertheless, Gulf Arab markets performed far less negative than exchanges in Frankfurt or New York.