Dubai: Amlak, which struck an upper circuit on Wednesday, dominated trading on Dubai bourse. Abu Dhabi index ended flat.

The Dubai Financial Market general Index ended 0.97 per cent higher at 4,029.20, after hitting a high of 4,038.72.

Amlak, whose shares were re-listed on Tuesday after a gap of more than six years, struck an upper limit in trade, ending more than 14 per cent higher at Dh1.17.

“Retail investors like high beta names. Retail investors are comfortable to trade in real estate companies like Union Properties, Deyaar Properties, so they have accepted the same approach with Amlak,” said Sebastien Henin, head of asset management at The National Investor.

“It would be good strategy for the company to communicate more in the coming days. It’s difficult to have an outlook on Amlak as we need to have more visibility on the company in terms of business strategy,” Henin said. adding “there is a lot of speculation and the retail investors are very very active on the name.”

Amlak was the most-active share in trade, contributing to almost 30 per cent of the trading volume.

Amlak is not part of the index, but Emaar Properties, which own 45 per cent stake in Amlak, ended 0.25 per cent higher at Dh7.92.

Gulf Finance House ended 1.63 per cent higher at Dh0.749.

Out of a total of 35 stocks traded on the exchange, shares of 26 companies rose, while shares of 5 companies fell.

Sideways

“Market should trade sideways from here on. I’m not expecting strong movements in market as head in Ramadan period,” Henin said.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index ended 0.01 per cent lower at 4,589.24.

Eshraq Properties ended 3.90 per cent higher at Dh0.80, while Aldar Properties ended 3.75 per cent higher at Dh2.77. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank ended 1.71 per cent lower at Dh7.47. First Gulf Bank ended 0.65 per cent lower at Dh15.20.

Out of a total of 33 companies traded on the exchange, shares of 16 companies rose, while shares of 8 companies fell.

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index ended 0.39 per cent lower at 9,678.75.

Bahri dropped more than 2 per cent after the exchange added the company in its list of five companies, in which foreigners would bit be able to buy shares. The rest four companies were real estate companies with focus on Mecca and Medina.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Muscat Securities MSM 30 index ended 0.16 per cent higher at 6,467.70, while Kuwait Stock Exchange Index ended 0.23 per cent higher at 6,313.04.