Oil prices - a key catalyst for financial markets in the Gulf - fell sharply on Friday amid declining European banking shares and oversupply concerns, with Brent crude falling $2.50, or 3.3%, to $73.41 a barrel by 1031 GMT. Meanwhile, The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates On Thursday raised its base interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.9%, matching the U.S. Federal Reserve's hike, as most Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC), including the United Arab Emirates, have their currencies pegged to the dollar and generally follow the Fed's policy moves. In Dubai, the main share index closed 0.4% lower, dragged down by a more than 5% decline in lender Dubai Islamic Bank , its biggest intraday fall in over 10 months, as it traded ex-dividend. The index, however, logged a marginal gain of 0.1% this week after falling for two straight weeks. Abu Dhabi's index fell 0.5%, in its second consecutive session of losses, pressured by a 2.2% decrease in its largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank . The real estate developer Aldar Properties and ADNOC Distribution , which were trading ex-dividend lost 3.4% and 3.7% respectively.
The index dropped 1.5% on weekly basis, extending the
decline for a second consecutive week.
ABU DHABI lost 0.5% to 9,503
DUBAI fell 0.4% to 3,349
(Reporting by Shamsuddin Mohd in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
