Dubai, Bahrain Shares Lead Gulf Drop on Moody’s Outlook, Greece - Bloomberg.com

Dubai and Bahrain shares declined, leading a drop in the Gulf, as Moody’s Investors Service said banks in the United Arab Emirates face challenges in a weak environment and lowered Greece’s credit rating to junk.

Dubai Islamic Bank, the United Arab Emirates’ largest Islamic bank, retreated 1.5 percent and Emaar Properties PJSC decreased to the lowest level since March. The DFM General Index slid 1.3 percent, the most since June 6, to 1,502.69. Bahrain’s gauge retreated 0.8 percent to 1,392.32, the lowest since at least 2004, when Bloomberg started tracking the data. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, which tracks 200 equities in the region, dropped 0.4 percent.

Moody’s statement on U.A.E. banks “reminds us that the real problem is financing; there is no incentive to put money in the market and take on more risk,” said Saud Masud, a Dubai- based analyst at UBS AG. Investors will “fall into any reconfirmation of a bearish outlook and will take international cues.”