By Zahra Hankir and Vivian Salama Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Dubai shares declined to their lowest level in more than a month, led by Emaar Properties PJSC and Emirates NBD PJSC, as investors awaited fourth-quarter earnings and oil fell for a sixth day. Emaar, the United Arab Emirates’ biggest developer, fell to the lowest in more than five weeks. Emirates NBD dropped to the lowest since December 2008. Dubai’s benchmark index retreated 1.6 percent to 1,661.54, the lowest since Dec. 10. Crude slipped to $77.98 a barrel, bringing its six-day loss to 5.8 percent. “Investors are not willing to pick up shares now before company earnings come out,” said Vyas Jayabhanu, head of Al Dhafra Financial Brokerage LLC. “We do not expect the market to maintain momentum and oil is down, so there’s no positive input to prompt investors to really buy any shares.” Dubai’s index has declined 7.9 percent this month as oil fell and investors sought clarity about Dubai World’s debt obligations. Lenders of the state-owned company seeking to renegotiate about $22 billion of debt are expected to meet with the Dubai World this week to complete a standstill agreement, a banker involved in the talks said on Jan. 14. The fourth-quarter earnings season is under way in Saudi Arabia and will start later this month in the U.A.E. Saudi Arabia’s measure lost 0.7 percent at 3:06 p.m. in Riyadh. Wider Loss Saudi Electricity Co. retreated the most since April after the state-controlled power producer said its fourth-quarter loss widened to 510 million riyals ($136 million) from 406 million riyals a year earlier. The shares lost as much as 3.3 percent, the biggest intraday decline since April 7, to 11.8 riyals. They last traded at 12 riyals. Emaar fell 3.2 percent to 3.32 dirhams, the lowest since Dec. 13. Emirates NBD, the country’s biggest bank, declined as much as 3.8 percent to 2.56 dirhams. The shares dropped 1.1 percent to 2.63 dirhams. Qatar’s DSM 20 Index advanced 0.7 percent as Commercial Bank of Qatar gained the most in more than a month. The Gulf country’s second-largest bank by assets said it expects to improve performance this year after posting a 33 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit. The shares climbed 4.8 percent, the biggest advance since Dec. 14, to 60.9 riyals. Bahrain’s measure slipped 0.2 percent, while the Kuwait Stock Exchange Index increased 0.2 percent. Oman’s MSM30 Index rose less than 0.1 percent. To contact the reporters on this story: Zahra Hankir in Dubai zhankir@bloomberg.net; Vivian Salama in Dubai at vsalama@bloomberg.net

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