UAE benchmarks decline marginally

Dubai: UAE markets continued to move sideways on Tuesday as both Dubai and Abu Dhabi benchmarks retreated, the second time in three days, after it went up marginally on Monday.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index (DFMGI) fell 1.4 per cent to 5,721.2 while the Abu Dhabi Securities Market Index (ADSMI) declined 0.1 per cent to close at 5,022.14.

Volumes continued to be low on both markets, with DFM trading 388.4 million shares and ADX 227.6 million. The turnover was worth Dh1.6 billion in the former and Dh1.3 million.

Analysts describe this period as one in which there is a vacuum of news after the release of the first-quarter results.

The major players in the market now sit on the sidelines, doing their pickings of shares depending on either expectations or some group of speculators trying to make short-term gains on certain shares. However, in the past few days, some analysts point to the turmoil in Lebanon and Iran's response to it as factors that might be playing in the minds of investors.

Major movers

Big market cap stocks such as Emaar, Dubai Islamic Bank and etisalat declined. The largest Arab property developer went down 1.7 per cent to Dh11.60, Dubai Islamic Bank 1.41 per cent to Dh9.10 and etisalat 0.5 per cent to Dh21.35.

In Abu Dhabi, with the inauguration of Cityscape, stocks such as Sorouh Real Estate, and Aldar Properties climbed, but not in any significant way. Sorouh went up 0.04 per cent to Dh9.73 and Aldar by 0.42 per cent to Dh11.95.