Most stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trading on Wednesday, tracking oil prices and Asian shares lower as more disappointing Chinese economic data and the absence of meaningful stimulus from Beijing continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

China’s July new home prices fell for the first time this year, official data showed on Wednesday, as piecemeal policy support failed to shore up the embattled property sector, mounting pressure on authorities to deliver aggressive stimulus.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index slipped 0.1%, weighed by a 1.1% drop in Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services and a 0.6% decline in oil giant Saudi Aramco.

Oil prices - a catalyst for the Gulf’s financial markets - edged down, extending a 1% drop in the previous session, as worries over China’s struggling economy outweighed declining US stockpiles.

Dubai’s main share index retreated 0.5%, with toll operator Salik Company losing 0.9% and sharia-compliant lender Dubai Islamic Bank falling 0.8%.

Most Gulf markets in red after China cuts rates

In Abu Dhabi, the index eased 0.3%. Separately, in Abu Dhabi, new industrial licences granted in the year to June increased 16.6% from a year ago, the government’s media office said on Tuesday.

The Qatari index, however, bucked the trend to trade 0.1% higher, helped by a 0.8% increase in petrochemical maker Industries Qatar.