Markets rebound on Al Saleh assurance

Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock markets rebounded yesterday after a top Dubai government official said the world media had overblown Dubai's debt situation.

"Dubai default...Dubai debt meltdown...Dubai financial crisis... etc. It was inaccurate, it was unnecessary blind panic, it was a misunderstanding of the status of Dubai, which indeed is a centre of trade and economic activity, it was lack of knowledge of how much debt was the subject of the announcement and how it is related to the government debt," said Abdul Rahman Al Saleh, the Director-General of the Department of Finance.

"Almost no county was in isolation of the "Global Storm" and of course, Dubai was not an exception as a global business and financial center," he said.

"The reactions were caused by asymmetric information of the situation in Dubai," Al Saleh added.

The Dubai Financial Market index rebounded sharply following Al Saleh's comments. The market saw transactions worth nearly Dh1.12 billion with the DFM index closing 7 per cent higher at Dh1,640.76.

Real estate developer Emaar led the market rally, its shares ending 14.84 per cent higher at Dh2.94. DFM shares rose 14.60 per cent to Dh1.57.

Abu Dhabi general index, meanwhile closed 1.43 per cent higher at 2,502.24 with Abu Dhabi Ship Building leading the market rally. Its shares closed 10 per cent higher at Dh3.08.