Gulf Stocks Hit Hard after OPEC Maintains Output Quota

Gulf Arab stocks plunged Sunday on their first trading day since OPEC decided to maintain oil output in a move that sent crude prices crashing to five-year lows, analysts said.

All seven bourses in the energy-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had been closed for the Friday-Saturday weekend following OPEC's decision late Thursday.

The Saudi Tadawul All-Shares Index, the largest in the Arab world, slumped more than 6.0 percent to below the 9,000-point mark immediately after opening. All shares and all sectors were trading lower. 

It recovered slightly in mid-session but was still down 5.1 percent at 8,598.0 points, the lowest since January. Almost all of the market's gains this year have evaporated.

Dubai Financial Market, which at one stage was trading down 6.5 percent, closed the day 4.74 percent lower at 4,281.43 points, the lowest level since June.

All but one of the DFM's stocks were in the red, but the benchmark index is still 27 percent up on last year's close.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange lost 2.56 percent to finish the day at 4,675.00 points.

Kuwait Stock Exchange price index dipped 3.3 percent to close at 6,754.60 points, the lowest level since March 2013. The weighted index shed 5.9 percent. 

Qatar Exchange lost 4.3 percent to end at 12,760.46 points, in the first fall below the 13,000-mark in five months.

Oman's main bourse tumbled 6.2 percent to end at 6,505.99 points, while Bahrain's remained almost unaffected, closing down 0.46 percent.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Thursday opted to keep its collective daily oil output target unchanged at 30 million barrels despite sliding crude prices.

Sunday's stock market fall was "a direct impact of the OPEC decision and the fear from the low oil price consequences" on Gulf economies, said Ziad Chehab, vice-president of investment research at Kuwait's KAMCO investments.

"I think Gulf stock markets are expected to continue to bleed for some time to come," he said.

The OPEC move has been seen as positive for global economies but negative in the Gulf where oil revenues account for an average of 90 percent of government budgets.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in January closed at $66.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $7.54 from the closing price Wednesday. It was the lowest WTI close since September 2009.

Brent oil for January delivery sank below $70 for the first time in four and a half years, to $69.78 a barrel. Brent settled at $70.15 a barrel, down $2.43 from Thursday's close.

The six-nation GCC states, which pump around 17.5 million barrels per day, are expected to lose over one-third of their mammoth oil revenues of $729 billion posted last year.