From Amina Maryam

September 25 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's stock market fell on Thursday as investors booked profits after a strong rally on Wednesday on news of potential reforms to foreign ownership rules in listed companies, while markets in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar also extended losses due to broad stock declines.

The Saudi index fell 1 percent, retreating from its highest daily gain in more than five years recorded yesterday. However, it rose for the third consecutive week, supported by strong financial stocks.

Daniel Takieddine, co-founder and CEO of Sky Links Capital Group, said the Saudi Capital Market Authority's move to consider raising the 49 percent foreign ownership limit in listed companies represents "a move that will generate foreign inflows of more than $10 billion and push the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index to raise the foreign listing ratio for Saudi stocks ."

Saudi Aramco's shares fell nearly 3 percent. Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that the company's talks to acquire a minority stake in a renewable energy company affiliated with Spain's Repsol had reached a dead end. The discussions were for a potential investment of 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion).

Saudi Telecom Company shares fell by 4.2 percent and SABIC shares fell by 4.1 percent.

Milad Azar, market analyst at XTB Middle East and North Africa, said the market outlook remains optimistic, despite the strong momentum in the non-oil private sector, although oil price fluctuations continue to weigh on sentiment.

The Dubai index gave up early gains, closing down 1 percent for the third consecutive session. Emaar Properties fell 1.5 percent, extending its losing streak. Dubai Islamic Bank fell 1.6 percent, and Emirates NBD fell 1.2 percent.

The Abu Dhabi index also gave up early gains, closing down 0.3 percent, weighed down by a nearly 1 percent drop in Aldar Properties shares.

Space42 shares fell 1.6 percent after announcing a partnership with Dynamic Map, a subsidiary of the Japanese platform of the same name, to provide high-resolution map data to General Motors' Super Cruise in the UAE.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced the acquisition of an 11.7 percent stake in the first phase of the Rio Grande LNG project, its first gas investment in the United States.

In addition, ADNOC signed a 20-year agreement to supply 1.9 million tons per year of LNG to be produced from the Rio Grande LNG Train 4.

The Qatari index fell 1.1 percent for the fifth consecutive session, ending the week lower due to a decline in banking stocks.

Shares of Qatar National Bank, the largest bank in the Gulf, fell 3 percent, continuing a two-day decline. Shares of Qatar Islamic Bank lost 1.3 percent.

Separately, the Qatar Investment Authority and Blue Owl Capital signed a $3 billion partnership to launch a global digital infrastructure platform focused on data centers. This comes as the authority increases its investments in AI-related sectors amid rising demand for data storage and computing power.

Kuwait's index fell 0.3 percent, while Bahrain's index rose 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent, while Oman's index remained stable at 5,117 points.

Outside the Gulf region, Egypt's blue-chip index fell 0.8 percent, giving up the previous session's gains, but ended the week higher, reaching its highest level since last month.

Consumer staples companies led the decline, with Eastern Company shares falling by more than 3 percent.

(Prepared by Noha Zakaria for the Arabic edition - Edited by Ayman Saad Muslim)