Kuwait City: Gulf stock markets steadied on Wednesday after heavy losses in the previous two days, in the absence of fresh developments in the Dubai debt crisis.
The Kuwait Stock Exchange, which plunged 2.7 percent on Tuesday, fluctuated sharply at the opening of the market and then traded slightly lower despite a rise in the leading banking sector.
The Bahrain Stock Exchange, which reopened on Wednesday after a six-day holiday, eased 0.5 percent amid quiet trading.
Qatar's Doha Securities Market, the only other Gulf bourse open on Wednesday, was due to start trading later. The DSM index shed a massive 8.3 percent on its first day of trading on Tuesday since news broke of Dubai's debt problems.
The stock markets of Saudi Arabia and Oman are still on holiday, while the bourses of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are closed for the national day.
The Dubai market shed 12.5 percent of its value and Abu Dhabi lost 11.5 percent in two days of trading following the Dubai World announcement last week that it was seeking to suspend payment of some of its 59 billion dollars of debt.
International markets rallied on Tuesday as analysts played down the global impact of Dubai's debt moratorium and after assurances from the ruler of Dubai and from the president of the United Arab Emirates.
European stock markets surged by more than two percent after Dubai World said it would start renegotiating the 26-billion-dollars debt of some of its units.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 02, 2009, 13:56