Politics drags down Kuwait's stock market

Kuwait's shares declined for a fifth day as the country's political crisis worsened.

The latest fall came after Kuwait's constitutional court ruled this year's parliamentary elections were unconstitutional and called for the body to be dissolved.

Gulf Finance House declined 1.4 per cent to 35 dinars per share on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Ithmaar Bank tumbled 6.1 per cent to 31 dinars per share. Al Madina for Finance and Investment dropped 5.2 per cent to 45 dinars.

The Kuwait Stock Exchange Index fell 0.7 per cent to 5,791.02, bringing its total losses to 2.6 per cent in the past two weeks.

"Politics is a concern and it doesn't seem to sort itself out," said Saleem Khokhar, the head of equities at National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

Trading on the UAE stock markets was mixed yesterday amid lacklustre appetite from investors and lingering concerns over the euro-zone debt crisis. Investor sentiment has dampened even after the euro zone's four biggest economies last week said they would seek a €130 billion package to boost growth.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index fell 0.3 per cent to 1,456.32, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index gained 0.2 per cent to reach 2,487.71.

Elsewhere in the region: Bahrain's index was little changed at 1,124.50; Oman's MSM 30 Index added 0.1 per cent to hit 5,662.91; Qatar's QE Index was little changed, sliding 0.02 per cent, to 8,228.52.

The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index moved down 0.9 per cent to 6683.34.