Abu Dhabi: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) index dropped 1.02 per cent on Tuesday to reach 4,508.24, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) general index fell 0.68 per cent to end the day’s trade at 4,829.15.
Real estate developer, Arabtec, moved slowly, gaining 0.48 per cent to reach a share price of Dh4.22. With an opening price of Dh4.11, share prices fluctuated throughout the day, dropping to the Dh4 in the first 30 minutes of trade. The plunge was followed by a steep gains that saw prices at a high of Dh4.3.
The gains on Tuesday bring the total growth since the beginning of July to 50.8 per cent.
With the company’s shares constituting 44 per cent of the total market trade value on Tuesday, the DFM index saw a parallel movement to that of Arabtec. The index reached its peak of 4,567.17 shortly after 11am, but then dropped until the market closed.
Meanwhile, other powerhouses in Dubai registered slight changes with the exception of Gulf Finance House, which went up 14.86 per cent. Union Properties remained flat, Emaar slid 0.75 per cent, and Salam Bahrain went up 2.33 per cent.
Sebastien Henin, head of asset management at The National Investor, commented on market movement saying, “The market had benefited from a rebound for the previous sessions, and we have seen a lot of volatility for the past six weeks so now we’re entering a phase of consolidation.”
He expected volatility to go down during Ramadan. “I think we should expect the markets to be more quiet after the six [aggressive] weeks that we had. I think the markets should trade sideways without much ups and downs, and I don’t expect meaningful variations in the coming few sessions,” Henin said.
Discussing Arabtec, Henin said that investors took time to digest the news coming out of the press conference that was held last Wednesday with an aim to increase transparency with shareholders.
“[The company] has sent a positive message to the community, and it has been well-perceived by the market, and that’s why investors now feel more comfortable. At least, they have been successful in stopping the speculation surrounding the name,” he said.
He expected Arabtec share prices to stabilise over the short-term, without returning to their highs of over Dh8.
Of the 31 stocks traded on DFM, 17 went up, 12 went down, and two remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks traded on ADX, 18 declined, eight advanced, and four remained flat.
