Biggest drop of the year in Dubai stocks

Amidst fears of a new recession, global markets have started to take a tumble. Gulf shares dropped today, sending Dubai’s index down the most since January, after Standard & Poor’s cut the U.S.’s credit rating for the first time. Emaar Properties PJSC dropped 6.6 percent while Arabtec Holding Co. (ARTC), slid the most since March after it said second-quarter profit dropped 74 percent. DFM General Index (DFMGI) lost 5.2 percent, the most this year. Saudi Arabia's bourses also felt the effect with the Tadawul All-Share Index dropping 5.46 per cent to 6,073.44, its most since the height of the Arab Spring. A whopping US$7.5 billion (Dh27.54bn) was wiped off from Saudi Arabian stocks yesterday. Regional markets are being “affected by the very negative international lead from the U.S. and the Saudi performance yesterday,” Samer Darwiche, a financial analyst at Gulfmena Investments in Dubai, said. Correlation between the foreign markets and Middle East and North African markets is high, especially with the lack of catalysts for the region, he added.