Gulf dips on Europe debt woes, Egypt extends fall

Gulf markets fell on Tuesday, dragged by renewed selling pressure on mounting fears of a Greek default, and Egypt's bourse slumped to a new 30-month low on political woes.

Qatar's market led regional declines, spurred by losses in world stocks, which fell to fresh 15-month lows.

Doha's index fell 1.6 percent to its lowest close since Aug. 24. All stocks were down, with banks the main drag.

Qatar National Bank fell 1.8 percent, Commercial Bank of Qatar dropped 3.5 percent and Doha Bank lost 3.4 percent.

"Globally, the main vehicle to watch out for is some sort of clarity in Europe -- that's the real driver," said Ibrahim Masood, senior investment officer at Mashreq bank. "We haven't seen any clear cut solutions for the Greek problem."

Egypt's index fell 1.3 percent to a fresh 30-month low as investors continued to pull money out of riskier emerging markets and uncertainty over Egypt's political future persisted.

Equities were pressured by a shift of funds into fixed-income securities a day earlier due to an auction of high-yielding treasury bills.

"We are affected by global markets which have been in a down trend, in addition to the bleak political picture locally," said Margo Moussa, an analyst at Arab Finance Brokerage.

In the UAE, Dubai's benchmark dropped 1.4 percent to a fresh seven-month low.

Emaar Properties fell 3 percent and Dubai Financial Market slipped 2.8 percent, together accounting for nearly half of all shares traded on the index. Builder Arabtec slipped 0.8 percent.

These stocks are usual targets of retail investors, trading on short-term volatility, also signalling a lack of participation from foreign funds.

Abu Dhabi's index shed 0.9 percent, tumbling to its lowest since September 2010.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank fell 3.2 percent, extending losses for a fourth day.

Sovereign fund Aabar, which bought Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank's 25 percent stake in Malaysian group RHB Capital , will get a $1.9 billion loan from ADCB to pay for the deal, two sources said.

Dana Gas dipped 1.9 percent, Aldar Properties dropped 3.5 percent and Sorouh Real Estate lost 3.8 percent.

The Saudi index slumped 1 percent to a six-week low, breaking below the psychological support level of 6,000 points.