Amman - Arab stock markets plummeted across the board on Wednesday on reports of a nearing global recession and ambiguity regarding the extent to which regional businesses were involved in the world financial crisis, financial analysts said.

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Saudi stock exchange, the Arab world's largest bourse, fell 3.69 per cent, led by the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and the banking sector.

The dropg brought to more than 10 per cent the decline in the Saudi market this week, a loss that wiped out last week's gains.

"I believe the stock losses have something to do with lack of transparency concerning the volume of investments outside the country by private sector and the government," Saudi analyst Rashed Fawzan said.

"The absence of such information deprives investors of the appropriate decision-taking tools," he added.

Jordanian shares also lost for a fourth straight day. The all- share price index of the Amman Stock Exchange shed 2.54 per cent.

The retreat was led by the Arab Potash Co., the Jordan Phosphates Mining Co. and the Jordan Petroleum Refinery.

Kuwaiti shares resumed their downward trend on Wednesday after having rebounded on Tuesday. The KSE all-share index closed trading 2.15 per cent in the red.

Analyst Maitham al-Shakhs of the Global Investment House attributed the downward trend at the Kuwaiti stock exchange mainly to lack of transparency and rumours casting doubt on the solvency of certain Kuwaiti investment firms.

He also believed declining oil prices were partly to blame for the losses incurred by Gulf stocks.

The benchmarks of the United Arab Emirates stock exchanges of Dubai and Abu Dhabi shed 4.24 per cent and 1.47 per cent, respectively.

Egypt's CASE 30, which measures the performance of the market's 30 most active stocks, plummeted 8.8 per cent on what dealers described as intensive selling by investment funds. (dpa)