GCC stock markets lose USD 16 bln in July

An Asset Management Company (KAMCO) report said that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries' stock markets lost more than USD 16 billion in the past month of July, reaching a loss of USD 28 billion in the first half of the fiscal year 2011.The report, issued on Wednesday, added that each GCC stock market has its own defining factors at play. For example, lack of liquidity in the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) and the investors' anticipation in a new bourse legislative and organizational body led to a state of haitus in the UAE markets.Things were made worse by the decision of raising the US debt ceiling to USD 14.3 trillion, which shook up the US dollar against major currencies and also affected the US sovereign debt since many countries have investments within the US treasury bonds and the US debt.GCC markets loss in value so far into 2011 reached USD 44 billion. The greatest loss was suffered by the Kuwaiti market, which shed USD 23 billion, while the Saudi market lost USD 13.8 billion to reach USD 340 billion of its market value.Losses were much less in the UAE and Qatar markets, which came to a combined USD 3 billion.Omani and Bahraini bourses suffered the least by USD 2.5 billion and 1.7 billion, respectively.