Abu Dhabi: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) index fell 0.24 per cent on Wednesday to reach 4,667.58 as Arabtec continued its decline that started with the beginning of this week. The construction giant dropped 1.65 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) general index went down 0.26 per cent to reach 4,964.15.

Both markets were marred by low trade volumes as DFM ended the day with a total trade value of Dh627.7 million — a plunge from previous sessions when values exceeded Dh2 billion.

Arabtec shares started the day at a price of Dh4.17, and showed strong signs of fluctuations, reaching a maximum of Dh4.25 at 11.15am. This was followed by a slow decline that saw shares end the day at a value of Dh4.16.

Other powerhouses in Dubai were also in the red as Union Properties fell 1.9 per cent, Emaar slid 2.06 per cent, and Dubai Ports World went down three per cent. However, Gulf Finance House (GFH) gained 0.76 per cent, and du went up 0.17 per cent.

Analyst Osama Al Ashry commented on market performance saying, “A lot of traders have already started their Eid holiday, which partially accounts for the low trade values. Plus, there’s also the fact that people see the DFM as a high-risk market, and don’t want to invest their money there.”

Discussing the performance of Arabtec, Al Ashry said that shares have been trying to break the Dh4.11 support level, and expected that to be followed by a drop that will see prices between Dh3.8 and Dh3.3.

“As Arabtec falls, the DFM index will also fall. I think the market will remain high risk as long as the index is below 5,000,” he said.

Al Ashry, a member of UK organisation, Society of Technical Analysts, however, appeared optimistic about the performance of GFH, expecting the bank to announce positive results for the second quarter of 2014, which will lead to an increase in share prices.

As for ADX, the analyst said it was also a risky market as long the index is under 5,000.

Of the 32 stocks traded on DFM, 15 went up, 15 went down, and two remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks traded on ADX, 14 declined, eight advanced, and eight remained flat.