Dubai:
Arabtec weighed on Dubai index on Monday, triggering a breach below the key support level.
Arabtec fell to its lower circuit and closed at Dh0.900, below the keenly-watched Dh1 level.
“We have seen aggressive selling pressure due to announcement on rights offer from Arabtec. Today’s selling was due to retail margin call, that resulted in acceleration of retail stocks, and that impacted the performance of market overall,” said Marwan Shurrab, head of high net worth and retail equity brokerage, Al Ramz from Abu Dhabi.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed 1.15 per cent lower at 3,603.98. The index, which was holding the critical support of 3,608, could witness further downside in coming weeks.
“The Dubai index may fall back to 3,200 in coming months, if it breaches 3,500,” said Shiv Prakash, senior analyst with National Bank of Abu Dhabi Securities in a note.
“However, oversold conditions should limit downside and there can be a rebound to take place later from the support zone of 3,500,” Prakash said.
Drake and Scull fell 3.7 per cent to be at Dh0.649. Gulf Finance House closed 0.69 per cent lower at Dh2.89. Air Arabia closed more than a per cent lower at Dh1.21. About 63 million shares were traded on Dubai Entertainments, which closed at Dh1.16, up 10 per cent.
The Abu Dhabi Securities General Index closed 0.88 oer cent lower at 4,580.22.
Etisalat fell 1.37 per cent to end at Dh18, while National Bank of Abu Dhabi closed 1.42 per cent lower at Dh10.45. Agthia closed 1.82 per cent lower at Dh6.48. “Some stocks will be attractive now. We could see liquidity increasing with consolidation,” Shurrab said, adding “investors should focus on dividend yielding stocks to avoid the volatility.”
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index closed 0.99 per cent lower at 7,069.27. The Qatar exchange index closed 0.02 per cent lower at 10,912.76. The Muscat MSM 30 index closed 0.10 per cent lower at 5,852.30.
