From Atiq Sharif

November 12 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Gulf region declined on Wednesday, heavily impacted by falling global oil prices.

Oil prices – a catalyst for Gulf stock markets – fell by about one percent, affected by a glut in the market, but expectations that ending the longest government shutdown in US history could boost demand limited the losses.

Analysts have previously pointed out that the oversupply of crude oil is limiting price gains. The OPEC+ alliance agreed this month to suspend its planned production increase in the first quarter of next year after easing the production cuts it had implemented since August.

The main Saudi market index fell 0.1 percent, affected by a 0.9 percent drop in Al Rajhi Bank shares and a 1 percent decline in Saudi Telecom shares.

Dubai's main index fell 0.5 percent, weighed down by a 2 percent drop in shares of Salik toll road operator and a 1.1 percent decline in shares of Emirates NBD bank.

But shares in Dubai Electricity and Water Authority rose 0.4 percent after the announcement of a rise in quarterly profits.

In Abu Dhabi, the index fell 0.4 percent, with Aldar Properties shares declining 1.6 percent.

On the other hand, Dana Gas shares closed 0.7 percent higher. The UAE energy company said on Wednesday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Syrian Petroleum Company to assess opportunities for redeveloping existing gas fields damaged by the 13-year civil war, which left Syria reliant on imports from Iran.

The Qatari index fell 0.2 percent, with shares of Qatar Islamic Bank declining 0.6 percent.

Bahrain's index was stable, while Oman's index rose 0.5 percent and Kuwait's index fell 0.3 percent.

Outside the Gulf region, Egypt's blue-chip index fell 0.1 percent, retreating further from the record highs it hit on Sunday, with shares of Eastern Company dropping 3.5 percent.

(Prepared by Doaa Mohamed for the Arabic Bulletin)