Dubai: Emaar Properties closed in the negative zone for a second consecutive day, after the stock fell more than 3 per cent in the previous session due to disappointment over dividends. The Dubai index, however, recovered.
Shares of Emaar Properties closed 0.41 per cent lower at Dh7.33, after hitting a low of Dh7.01. Traded value fell to Dh50 million, down from the previous session’s Dh80 million.
“In Emaar Properties, there has been an overflow from yesterday’s disappointment from that segment of investors,” said Saleem Khokhar, head of equities at National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s (NBAD) asset management group.
Emaar Properties still remains one of the favourite picks in the Middle East and North Africa region (Mena) for NBAD Asset Management. Khokhar said: “The growth prospects for the company are very good [in Mena], and the earning potential is very strong.”
Emaar Properties has outperformed many on the Dubai bourse, and has gained more than 20 per cent in the past year as against an 8 per cent rise in Dubai index.
Ajman Bank closed 1.45 per cent higher at Dh1.40. Aramex rose 7 per cent to be at Dh5.35. Gulf Finance House closed more than 3 per cent to be at Dh2.55.
“It’s a bounce from recent lows that we have hit. So we are seeing a bit of bottom fishing,” Khokhar added.
“We are getting a shift in some of the investor base from high income yielding assets to companies that tend to increase dividends,” said Khokhar, referring to stocks on Dubai bourse.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed 1.45 per cent higher at Dh1.40. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General index closed 1.45 per cent higher at Dh1.40.
First Gulf Bank closed 0.72 per cent lower at Dh13.80, while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank closed 0.68 per cent higher at Dh7.35. Union National Bank closed 1.19 per cent higher at Dh4.25.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, the Tadawul index in Saudi Arabia was down 0.30 per cent lower at 6,970.84. The Qatar exchange index closed 0.72 per cent lower at 10,361.49.
