Most Gulf stock markets rise at opening

Most stock markets in the oil-rich Gulf states, which suffered massive losses this week, rose at the start of trading on Thursday, bolstered by a round of interest rate cuts.

Shares in Kuwait, Doha and Oman made strong gains, but Abu Dhabi remained in the red and after initially opening in positive territory, the market in the booming emirate of Dubai also fell back.

The Saudi stock market, the largest in the Arab world, was closed on Thursday after a rollercoaster ride on the final day of trading this week.

After slumping below 6,000 points for the first time in more than 52 months and shedding more than eight percent, Saudi's Tadawul All-Shares Index closed on Wednesday down 1.5 per cent at 6,160.52 points.

For the week as a whole, the TASI plummeted 17.4 per cent since the market reopened on Monday following a religious holiday.

On Thursday, the Muscat Securities Market led the gainers, jumping 7.8 per cent to above the 7,000-point mark.

The Kuwait Stock Exchange, the second largest in the Arab world, rose 3.3 per cent following reports of a massive government package worth more than $20 billion to assist the financial system.

The Dubai Financial Market Index, which shed 25 per cent this week, initially bounced up 3.2 per cent but then dropped 1.1 per cent after an hour of trade.

Its neighbour in the United Arab Emirates, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, was down 0.15 per cent.

In gas-rich Qatar, the Doha Securities Market shot up 3.6 per cent at start, while the small Bahrain Stock Exchange was up 0.8 per cent.

The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait on Wednesday cut interest rates to make lending cheaper and provide more cash for the banking system.

Their move followed on the heels of a coordinated rate cut by US and European banks of half a percentage point.

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