Major Gulf bourses end lower on falling oil prices

Major stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Sunday in response to falling oil prices and weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data.

Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets - tumbled more than a dollar a barrel on Friday to record a second straight weekly decline as disappointing Chinese data added to doubts about demand growth after Saudi Arabia’s weekend decision to cut output.

The Qatari Stock index (.QSI) dropped 0.5%, extending its losses to a second session. The index recorded a drop in all sectors with Gulf’s biggest lender Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA) falling 0.6% and Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB.QA) shedding 0.7%, reported Reuters.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index (.TASI) fell marginally, ending its six-session winning streak. Losses in the energy and utilities sectors outweighed gains in most of the sectors.

Bank Aljazira (1020.SE) climbed 3.6% and Saudi Industrial Investment Group (2250.SE) gained 3.4%.

However, the oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) and the kingdom’s biggest bank Saudi National Bank (1180.SE) lost 0.3% and 0.9% respectively.