Comment: Wild Gulf markets need taming

Taking their cue from global markets and the lack of direction of oil prices, Gulf Co-operation Council equity markets have come under immense selling pressure, and this has led to significant volatility in indices.

Yet even before the financial crisis, GCC markets were peculiarly volatile. Much of this is because of rampant speculative trading by local investors.

In GCC markets, where market makers are barely present, some speculative activity is healthy, helping to maintain liquidity and depress bid-ask spreads.