Apr. 8--KUWAITI SHARES FOLLOW GCC DOWNTREND: The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) price index lost 0.81 percent, closing at 7,240.7 points. Real estate bellwether Alaqaria (down 8.33 percent) was among the top losing stocks. Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House, headed by the influential Bahraini familiy Janahi, lost 2.4 percent on profit bookings after posting significant gains during this week. Lower oil prices, dipping below $50 per barrel, weigh on the market. According to MEED, State-owned Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has awarded a KD117m ($402m) contract to Chinese oil firm China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation.

DOHA MARKET DROPS BY ONE PERCENT: Qatar's stock market DSM closed 0.99 percent lower at 5,089.84 points. Gainers and losers were quite the same as in the days before: Qatar Technical Inspection (up 6.77 percent) ist reaping benefits from announced merger talks with Qatar Fuel (0.82 percent higher). Banks continue to lose value. The banking and financial sector index lost 1.23 percent.

ABU DHABI INDEX DOWN IN LACKLUSTRE TRADING: The Abu Dhabi market General Index (ADXGI) lost 0.53 percent, closing at 2,518.73 points. Union Cement plumetted 8.87 percent on profit bookings. Abaar Investments lost 1.61 percent. The firm, which acquired AIG Private Bank (Switzerland) end of 2008 and a 9.1 percent-shareholder at German car producer Daimler got green light from the government to increase its paid up capital by more than Dhs2bn. Dana Gas from Sharjah bucked the trend by gaining 2.67 percent.

SHARIA-COMPLIANT FINANCIALS AVERT MARKET MELTDOWN: Banks and insurers operation in line with Islamic law (Sharia) bucked the weak trend and emerged as the big winners today at Dubai Financial Market (DFM), which closed 0.59 percent lower at 1,587.67 points. Only a last minute upswing could save the DFM General Index from a loss over 1 percent. Islamic Financials Alsalam Sudan (up 14.61 percent), Dartakaful (5.79 percent higher) and Ajmanbank (gaining 4.72 percent) closed on top of the charts. Market bellwether Emaar retreated by 2.85 percent, dragging the market down. Negative input from US and Asian markets continue to load the GCC markets. Volumes stabilized on a low level, with 284,558,567 shares changing hands.

NASDAQ DUBAI PLANS Q2 DERIVATIVES GROWTH: The Nasdaq Dubai exchange plans to expand its derivatives tradingby listing more regional equity derivatives in Q2, according to Gulf News. The exchange plans to grow its futures offerings on 20 stocks. Nasdaq Dubai's equity trading volumes increased by 62 percent in Q1, compared to the same period in 2008.

TADAWUL-INDEX DECLINES SLIGHTLY: The Saudi Tadawul stock index closed 0.59 percent at 5,052.55 points in line with declines at global bellwether markets. Industrial and utility shares in particular lost value. Sauid Electricity posted the largest loss (off 8.69 percent). Once again an insurance operator emerged as a top gainer: The Mediterranean & Gulf Insurance & Reinsurance Co. jumped 10 percent straight. With oil prices declining below $50, investors are expected to remain cautious in the coming days.

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