DUBAI - The Dubai and Abu Dhabi indices opened sharply lower on Thursday, while trading in Kuwait was suspended for the day after the country declared a public holiday to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

At 0604 GMT, the Dubai index was down 8.1% and Abu Dubai fell 6.3%.

"All markets in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) are at risk after WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic, which triggered a selloff across the board in the U.S. market," said Marie Salem, head of institutions at Daman Securities.

"More losses are expected following President Trump's announcement to suspend travel from Europe for 30 days."

Shares in UAE-based Air Arabia tumbled as much as much 9.8% in early trade after Kuwait suspended all passenger commercial flights and Saudi Arabia halted travel to Europe.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar and Yousef Saba; editing by Davide Barbuscia) ((Saeed.Azhar@thomsonreuters.com; +971 44536787; Reuters Messaging: saeed.azhar.reuters.com@reuters.net))