Major Gulf bourses end lower on falling oil prices

Major stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Sunday in response to falling oil prices and weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data, reports Reuters.
Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - tumbled more than a dollar a barrel on Friday to record a second straight weekly decline as disappointing Chinese data added to doubts about demand growth after Saudi Arabia's weekend decision to cut output.
The Qatari Stock index dropped 0.5 per cent, extending its losses to a second session. The index recorded a drop in all sectors with Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA) falling 0.6 per cent and Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB.QA) shedding 0.7 per cent.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark index fell marginally, ending its six-session winning streak. Losses in the energy and utilities sectors outweighed gains in most of the sectors.
Bank Aljazira climbed 3.6 per cent and Saudi Industrial Investment Group gained 3.4 per cent.
However, the oil giant Saudi Aramco and the kingdom's biggest bank Saudi National Bank lost 0.3 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index climbed 1.3 per cent, extending its previous session gains.
The index was lifted up by a 6.2 per cent jump in Fawry Banking and 7.0 per cent rise in Misr Fertilizers Production.
Separately, Egypt's annual urban consumer inflation rate in May accelerated to 32.7 per cent from 30.6 per cent in April, approaching an all-time record and higher than analysts had expected.