DUBAI, Jan 17 (Reuters) - United Arab Emirates stock markets fell sharply in early trade on Sunday in response to a fresh slide in oil prices and the weakness of global equity markets.

Dubai's index lost 3.6 percent in the first 15 minutes of trade in a broad sell-off, with blue chip Emaar Properties sinking 4.4 percent.

The lifting of economic sanctions on Iran, announced on Saturday, is positive for Dubai, which is expected to benefit from increased Iranian trade and through its role as a business hub for Iran.

But the gloomy global environment outweighed any optimism over Iran. Air Arabia, which could enjoy more air traffic to Iran, dropped 2.3 percent, while port operator DP World, which may handle more trade, slipped 2.0 percent.

Abu Dhabi's index sank 2.8 percent with heavily weighted banking and real estate stocks leading the way.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Ed Davies)