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The recent oil market slump has caused a dive in the stock markets of Persian Gulf Arab countries, erasing most of the gains made during the first nine months of 2014.
A wave of panic sell-offs caused by declining crude oil prices resulted in all seven of the Persian Gulf region’s bourses ending in the red for the year’s final quarter.
Crude oil lost around 50 percent of its value due to weak demand, excess production, and a strong US dollar.
The Saudi stock market was the worst hit with a 23.2-percent slump, Dubai was close on its heels with a 23-percent dive, Oman lost 15.2 percent, and Kuwait was down by 14.3 percent.
Abu Dhabi suffered 11.2 percent, Qatar took a 10.5-percent dip, and Bahrain ended 3.4 percent down.
"The fall in the fourth quarter was a direct result to the sharp drop in oil prices," said senior analyst at Kuwait Financial Center, Humoud Al Sabah.
"Most of the Persian Gulf bourses ended the first three quarters with strong gains but shed most of it due to the impact of oil prices," Sabah added.
Annual gains were posted for 2014 by Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain while the Saudi, Kuwaiti and Omani bourses reported loses.
Statistics show the Persian Gulf region’s seven markets' capitalization increased by around 70 billion dollars at the end of 2014, while they had lost around 131 billion dollars in stock values on September 30.
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