The Dubai market fell to its lowest level in more than two months as worries that Ireland's bailout will not prevent a eurozone debt crisis prevailed.
Dubai's plans to possibly sell shares in its large companies and ongoing geo-political tensions in Korea also contributed to the drop.
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index fell 1.3 per cent to 1,659.5 points. The property sector, a heavyweight on the exchange, was one of the most affected as shares in Emaar Properties closed at their lowest point since September.
The builder of the world's tallest skyscraper closed 1.4 per cent down to Dh3.60. Arabtec lost 2.2 per cent to Dh1.80 and Deyaar fell nearly 1 per cent to Dh0.30.
No stocks closed up in Dubai.
In Abu Dhabi, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the country's biggest bank and the highest gainer in early trading, closed 0.4 per cent up to Dh12.4. But Aldar Properties maintained a downward trend it has experienced since June as it fell nearly 2.7 per cent to Dh2.18.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Index closed down 0.3 per cent to 2,749.67 points.
"Overall there's no clear plan ahead for the investor. The feeling is no one is paying attention to the market," said Ameed Kanaan, general manager at Al Jazeera Financial Services.
"It's clear there is no cash coming into the market," Mr Kanaan said.
The negative outlook impacted the rest of the region stocks as Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait all fell 0.8 per cent to 8111.01 points, 1426.98 points and 6868.80 points respectively.
Oman was one of the only positive gainers as it closed 0.5 per cent up to 6,582.29 points. It has been the best performing GCC exchange year-to-date, with shares rising 18 per cent, compared to Dubai's seven per cent decrease.
