DUBAI: Kuwaiti mobile telephone firm Zain’s and logistics provider Agility took a beating on Wednesday and hammered the index to a 33-week low.

Zain tumbled 4.2 percent on a report that Indian state telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) could stay out of a group looking to buy 46 percent of the firm.

Agility dived 5 percent after a US grand jury indicted the logistics firm on Monday over accusations of overcharging the US Army to the tune of $60 million.

Kuwait’s KWSE index slipped 1 percent to 6,705 points, its lowest close since March 30.

Lack of transparency about Zain’s stake sale and concern over the Agility’s revenue outlook have raised expectations of a further slump on the troubled Kuwait market, where several firms are yet to announce third-quarter results.

Investors booked profits in Dubai as the index DFMGI continued a correction mainly in property and banking stocks.

The Saudi stock market ended slightly lower. Sector activity was widely negative with 11 out of 15 sectors closing in red. The benchmark TASI declined 0.2 percent to 6,319 points.

The sector losses ranged from 0.08 percent by the banks and financial services sector to 1.43 percent by the insurance sector.

On the positive side, sector gains ranged from 0.08 percent by the energy and utilities to 0.81 percent by the agriculture and food industries sector. The overall market breadth remained negative with 85 decliners against 29 advancers giving an AD ratio of 0.34.

“TASI today was tightly range bound but managed to close above the 5-day moving average again for the third consecutive day. Liquidity however remained low and dropped to SR3.2 billion.

The market closed with a minor loss owing to the continued increase in oil price for the third day closing above $80 per barrel,” said Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) in its daily market report.

Qatar’s QSI index ended 2 percent higher, led by gains in the banking sector. Bahrain’s BAX index slipped 0.05 percent to 1,443 points. The measure fell 0.5 percent to 2,950 points.