Gulf stock markets tumbled on Monday over fears about the widening coronavirus outbreak's effect on the global economy and following the loss of oil prices after the disintegration of the grouping called OPEC+.
The state oil giant Saudi Aramco saw its shares drop by 10% as Riyadh's stock market opened on Monday, halting trading.
Other Mideast markets fell as well as the new coronavirus has affected global energy prices and OPEC failed to make a production cut deal with Russia last week.
Boursa Kuwait shut down within 30 minutes of opening Monday as stocks again dropped by 10%, the third such emergency halt to trading in recent days.
Dubai Financial Market dropped 8.3 percent at close, but authorities suspended trading in most leading stocks after slumping the maximum daily limit of 10 percent.
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange shed 8.1 percent to a four-year low, while the Qatar Stock Exchange was down 9.7 percent.
The bourses of Oman and Bahrain dipped 5.6 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively.
Oil prices also crashed at the opening on Monday with the benchmark Brent crude diving to $36 a barrel.
