Abu Dhabi: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) index went up 0.93 per cent to reach 4,903.46 on Thursday as powerhouse Arabtec was suspended from trade until it releases further clarification on ownership.

Though Arabtec tends to account for at least 30 to 40 per cent of the total trade value on DFM, values remained high on Thursday with Dh1.7 billion worth of trade.

Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) rose 0.96 per cent to end the day at 5,033.18.

Dubai powerhouses were mostly in the green as Union Properties gained 2.35 per cent, and accounted for 26 per cent of the total trade value — the highest values of the day.

Gulf Finance House also climbed 5.26 per cent, Emaar went up 1.63 per cent, and Dubai Investment Co rose 0.28 per cent. Drake & Scull International (DSI), however, remained unchanged.

The DFM index started the first hour of trade with a decline reaching a minimum of 4,810.79. However, this was followed by a steady growth that saw the index reaching a high of 4,932.3 shortly after 12pm.

Saleem Khokhar, head of equities at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi asset management group, commented on market performance saying, “Volumes [on DFM] were still good, overall. We did see a bit of a move back to the high-beta, slightly risky stocks; the likes of DSI, Deyaar, and DFM. So, that tells me we’re seeing a bit of confidence returning.”

He noted that the volumes are higher than they were during the correction.

“We are, however, going into the summer vacation period, so we’ll probably see a bit more volatility but on lower volumes. After that, we’ll be ready to go into a sort of abnormality mode where the fundamentals re-assert,” Khokhar said.

As for the outlook for DFM, he said he did not expect the suspension of Arabtec to cause a negative impact on trade volumes.

“For the short term, you may see some volatility over the summer, but the underlying fundamentals will be pretty strong, so I do expect more of a steady rather than a spectacular exponential growth trajectory,” Khokhar said.

Of the 31 stocks traded on DFM, 17 went up, six went down, and eight remained unchanged. Of the 34 stocks traded on ADX, 15 advanced, 16 declined, and three remained flat.