Most major Gulf bourses closed lower on Sunday with Qatar leading the losses, dragged down by heavyweight Industries Qatar, while Egypt retreated on a sell-off of blue chips. The Qatari index dropped 1%, extending losses for a sixth straight session, as most stocks on the index declined.

Industries Qatar slid 2.7%. On Wednesday, the heavyweight saw its biggest fall in six months as 2019 profits almost halved from a year earlier. Qatar's foreign minister also said on Saturday that efforts to resolve its long-running dispute with other Gulf states had been suspended since the start of January.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a political, trade and transport boycott on Qatar in June 2017 over charges it supports terrorism, which Doha denies. Egypt's blue-chip index fell 0.9%, with Telecom Egypt falling 6.2%, while tobacco monopoly Eastern Company dropped 1.3%.

Exchange data on Sunday showed foreigners were net sellers of Egyptian stocks. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index slipped 0.5%, pressured by Saudi British Bank, which tumbled 4.7% ahead of its earnings announcement.

Amongst others, Saudi Aramco was down 0.9%. The oil giant said on Friday it would report fiscal year results on March 16. However, Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development leapt 4.1%, after the realtor announced that it intends to issue senior unsecured sukuk. In Abu Dhabi, the index added 0.5% supported by a 1% gain in First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and 0.3% increase in telecoms firm Etisalat.

The United Arab Emirates' largest lender FAB on Sunday said that it had issued bonds worth more than 3 billion dirhams ($816.77 million) through two separate issuance in three days. Dubai's main share index traded flat as Emirates NBD Bank slipped 0.4%, while construction firm Arabtec Holding sank 1.6% after it swung to a net loss in 2019 from a profit a year earlier.

However, the fall was cushioned by gains at other blue-chip stocks including Air Arabia, which was up 1.3%. Last week, the airliner posted annual profit of 990.2 million dirhams compared with a loss of 609.5 million dirhams a year ago.