Dubai: After the day when Dubai stocks rallied to the highest level in more than three years, the index remained almost flat, dropping just 0.10 per cent to end at 1944.01.

The marginal drop was precipitated by the substantial decline in National Central Cooling Company, also known as Tabreed, on dilution concerns arising from its dividend payout to Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company, which owns 15 per cent of the company. The company promised a cash dividend of 5 fils per a share.

The UAE utility company, which had the third highest turnover on its 43.99 million shares traded on the day, fell 4.73 per cent, its largest decline in 10 months. It closed at Dh1.61.

Marwan Shurrab, vice-president at Dubai-based Gulfmena Investments Ltd. told Bloomberg that “the stock is falling on further dilution concerns, as Mubadala is also entitled to the dividend”.

Emaar continued from where it left on Sunday, climbing 0.57 per cent to close at Dh5.29. On Sunday, the biggest real estate developer in the region, rose to its highest in more than four years after it announced a new project in downtown Dubai and also, because of surging net income in its Saudi operations.

With inputs from Bloomberg

Abu Dhabi

The Abu Dhabi stock market measure moved up close to a quarter of one per cent yesterday on lower volumes despite major real estate stocks ending lower.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index rose 0.22 per cent to end at 3034.66, with 106.57 million shares traded on the day valued at Dh239.35 million. That meant the turnover dropped 14.52 per cent from Sunday’s value of Dh280.02 million.

The stocks of the two big real estate companies, Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate, which were among the top five traded and turnover stocks, fell 1.27 per cent to Dh1.56 and 0.52 per cent to Dh1.92 respectively.

Etisalat, the biggest telecom operator in the UAE, and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the two stocks that registered the fourth and fifth highest turnover, remained flat at Dh10.20 and Dh4 respectively. Dana Gas also remained unchanged at Dh0.51.

Eshraq Properties and Ras Al Khaimah Properties, among the top five traded stocks, also declined. Eshraq closed at Dh0.74, down 2.63 per cent and Ras Al Khaimah Properties, the second biggest loser on the day, closed at Dh0.55, dropping 3.51 per cent.

Union National Bank was among the top five gainers, climbing 1.72 per cent to Dh3.55.