Gulf stocks follow Asia's lead with slip

Market Wrap: Asian and Gulf markets slump on Italy downgrade by ratings agency S&P - with video.

How the DFM closed on September 20, 2011.
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Asian stock markets declined on Tuesday, with Gulf markets following suit, after Standard and Poor downgraded Italy’s credit rating.

Video:Market Minute, September 20, 2011

Hadeel al Sayegh looks at how Italy's credit downgrade has impacted the markets

S&P cut its unsolicited ratings on Italy by one notch to A/A-1 and kept its outlook on negative, warning of a deteriorating growth outlook and damaging political uncertainty.

Tokyo fell 1.4 per cent, Sydney lost 1.07, while Hong Kong lost 0.17 per cent, Seol dipped 0.11 per cent.

In the UAE, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index was down 0.3 per cent to 2555.52 points. The Dubai Financial Market General Index was down 0.2 per cent to 1458.85 points.

Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait’s index was down 0.2 per cent to 5965.00 points. Bahrain’s index was unchanged at 1257.29 points. Oman’s measure was little changed at 5738.15 points. Qatar’s benchmark was little changed at 8406.70 points. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index was down 0.4 per cent to 6118.34 points.