Oman Stocks Slump the Most in 15 Months as Protests Spread; Dubai Retreats

Oman Stocks Slump the Most in 15 Months as Protests Spread; Dubai Retreats  "Persian Gulf shares dropped, sending Oman’s benchmark stock index down the most in more than a year, as political unrest in the region spread to the sultanate, prompting investors to trim riskier emerging market assets.

Bank Muscat SAOG, Oman’s biggest bank, slumped 9.9 percent and Bank Sohar lost the most in two years as protests erupted in the city of Sohar. The MSM30 Index fell 3.9 percent to 6,209.39, the most since December 2009, at 11:44 a.m. in Muscat. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index declined 1 percent and has slid 11 percent since Tunisia’s former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country amid protests that spurred similar uprisings in Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Bahrain. Qatar’s QE Index decreased 3.9 percent."