Top Islamic stocks outperform in Dec-Dow

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The world's top Islamic stocks, as measured by the Dow Jones market index , fell 0.08 percent in the first three weeks of December, versus a 2 percent loss for top global stocks, Dow Jones said.

The Islamic index, which tracks the performance of the world's top 100 sharia stocks, closed at 1,698.95 on Dec 22 while the global stocks index, which measures the 50 largest firms worldwide, ended at 140.42.

The Islamic GCC index , which follows the Islamic stocks of five Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, fell 6.87 percent to 1,182.57. The conventional GCC index dropped 7.32 percent to 1,393.17.

The Islamic Asia Pacific index rose 5.6 percent to 1,368.51. Top Islamic U.S. stocks lost 2.1 percent to 1,758.68, compared with a 3.5 percent fall for the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI.

The Dow Jones Citigroup Sukuk Index, which tracks global Islamic bonds, fell 1.45 percent to 91.38.

Dow Jones said its best three Islamic market industry indices were health care, consumer services and telecommunications. The worst were the oil and gas, consumer goods and financials. (To read more Reuters stories on Islamic finance, click on [ID:nISLAMIC])

(Reporting by Liau Y-Sing; Editing by David Chance)