OREANDA-NEWS. March 17, 2015. Gulf stock markets, including the previously resilient Saudi Arabia, extended losses alongside oil on Monday, while Egypt dropped on profit-taking after a strong run and ahead of a fresh public offer of shares.

Brent crude fell to around \\$54 a barrel, its lowest for more than a month, on rising global inventories and signs of a possible nuclear deal with Tehran that could allow more Iranian oil exports.

Saudi Arabia's stock index posted its biggest single-day loss in two months, dropping 2.0 percent on heavy volume to a two-week low of 9,438 points. The petrochemical sector fell 2.6 percent.

The earnings of petrochemical producers, which constitute the biggest sector on Saudi Arabia's stock market, have been hit hardest by oil's sustained fall.

Also, Saudi Arabia's index had vastly outperformed other major Gulf markets, rising 15.5 percent this year as of Sunday, so the uncertainty over oil tempted short-term investors to book profits.

In the longer run, money is likely to continue flowing into the kingdom as it prepares to open its stock market to direct foreign investment in the first half of this year, a move that could eventually help it secure emerging market status from major index compilers.

UAE, EGYPT

Dubai's index dropped 2.6 percent. Emaar Properties , the emirate's biggest listed developer, tumbled 4.8 percent after it said it was not involved in a project to build a new capital city in Egypt, contrary to recent United Arab Emirates and Egyptian media reports.

Bahrain's Gulf Finance House fell 3.9 percent after tumbling its daily 10 percent limit in the previous session when it proposed a capital reduction and no dividend payments for 2014.

The only gainer among major stocks was low-cost carrier Air Arabia, which edged up 0.6 percent on the last day its shares carried the 2014 dividend.

Abu Dhabi's benchmark fell 1.4 percent in another broad sell-off. Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, which has also suffered from oil's plunge, tumbled 6.7 percent.

Qatar's index lost 1.7 percent as major petrochemicals player Industries Qatar dropped 2.4 percent and Qatar International Islamic Bank, which went ex-dividend, tumbled 8.6 percent.

Egypt's market also turned negative and dropped 2.0 percent with virtually all stocks in the red, after touching a one-month intra-day high of 9,820 points in the previous session. The Cairo bourse had gained 9.0 percent year-to-date as of Sunday, making it the second-best performer among major Middle East markets.

"I think there is profit-booking at high levels," said Harshjit Oza, an analyst with Naeem brokerage in Cairo.

Also, some investors may be cashing out to take part in the secondary public offer of food maker Edita, which announced an indicative price range on Monday.

Sources told Reuters earlier this month that Edita was seeking to raise 2 billion Egyptian pounds (\\$262 million) from its offer on the Cairo bourse, and that trading was expected to begin in April.

Bucking the regional trend, Orascom Construction surged 6.4 percent in Cairo and 6.6 percent on NASDAQ Dubai after announcing plans to raise \\$1.95 billion in syndicated loans which will be used for the \\$3 billion first phase of a coal-fired power station in Egypt.