Stock markets in the energy-rich Gulf ended mixed on Sunday amid volatile trading as investors appeared to be taking a wait and see approach as global markets were closed for the weekend.

The Saudi stock market, the largest in the region, was the main loser, with the Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) dropping 3.8 percent to close at 6,258.32 points.

The TASI was pulled down by the petrochemicals sector which dropped 7.4 percent.

The market leader, petrochemicals giant SABIC, shed 8.7 percent after announcing on Saturday a lower than expected eight percent rise in nine-months profit while its third quarter net income dropped by two percent.

The market opened the week's trading on Saturday with an 5.2 percent fall.

The Dubai Financial Market Index closed up a meagre 0.4 percent on 3,215.94 points after volatile trading that saw the index fluctuate sharply.

The market leader, property giant Emaar, closed up just 0.7 percent after initially rising by around six percent, despite announcing a 15 percent rise in operating profit for the first nine months.

Emaar, which is undertaking projects worth 100 billion dollars, also said that net profit in the nine months this year remained almost the same as in the corresponding period in 2007.

The other United Arab Emirates bourse, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, finished the day up 2.4 percent at 3,446.76 points after a slight drop at the start.

The market was supported by the telecom and banking sectors which rose 3.7 percent and 3.6 percent respectively.

It was the second week of highly volatile trading on the markets in the face of the global financial crisis, with speculative deals dominating most of the markets, traders said.

"Gulf stock markets are not mature enough as they depend mainly on speculation. They are risky markets and are subject to fluctuations," Abdulaziz al-Daghestani, head of the Saudi Economic Studies House, told AFP.

Doha Securities Market closed up 1.25 percent on 7,901.62 points, though staying below the 8,000-point mark. The market initially rose three percent on better than expected financial results announced by some companies.

Muscat Securities Market closed down 0.4 percent, while Bahrain Stock Exchange finished up 0.4 percent.

Kuwait Stock Exchange, the second biggest Arab bourse, was the main loser. The KSE Index closed down 2.7 percent on 11,234.10 points.

The market appears to have ignored assurances by central bank governor Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz al-Sabah on Saturday that liquidity in the emirate is no longer a problem.

Since the start of October, all seven Gulf bourses have fallen sharply.

Dubai dropped 22.00 percent, Abu Dhabi 13 percent and Saudi Arabia 15 percent. Qatar and Oman slumped 15 percent each and Kuwait 13.5 percent.