Dubai

UAE markets witnessed sideways movement on Tuesday amid dull volumes, as traders readied for holidays next week.

The Dubai Financial Market general index closed 0.75 per cent lower at 3,505.18. Volumes fell to Dh314 million compared to over Dh1 billion last week.

Union Properties closed 0.9 per cent lower at Dh1.10, and was on the active stock in trade. Emaar Properties closed 1.90 per cent lower at Dh7.21.

Arabtec fell 1.52 per cent to be at Dh1.30. Among the gainers, Dubai Islamic Bank closed 0.19 per cent higher at Dh5.55. Amanat closed near 1 per cent higher at Dh0.94. Out of a total of 36 stocks traded on the exchange, shares of 20 firms fell, while other 10 rose. The rest remained flat.

The Abu Dhabi Securities General index closed at 4,479.04, down 0.01 per cent. Eshraq Properties closed flat at Dh1, while Etisalat closed 1.37 per cent higher at Dh18.45. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank closed 0.87 per cent higher at Dh6.99. Manazel closed 3.39 per cent lower at Dh0.57. Out of a total of 24 stocks traded on the exchange, shares of 9 firms fell, while other 11 firms rose. The rest remained steady.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, the Qatar index closed 1.18 per cent higher at 10,393.83 on the back of the merger talks between three of smaller banks in the country.

Masraf Al Rayan, the second-largest bank in terms of market capitalisation in the country, rose as much as 7 per cent early in trade. The Tadawul index closed 0.65 per cent lower at 7,031.11, while the Muscat MSM 30 index closed 0.25 per cent lower at 5,714.87. The Kuwait Stock Exchange index closed 0.19 per cent higher at 5,667.75.

Bullish on Dubai:

“GCC is very strong in terms of currency because of the dollar peg, so there is no currency risk. The other thing is higher oil prices, and that should support sentiment,” said Amr Hussain Elalfy, managing director — global head of research at Mubasher Financial Services.

Dubai Financial Market General Index has gained more than 12 per cent since the start of the calendar year, compared to 1.73 per cent gains in the Tadawul index

“We have seen Saudi Arabia have recovered very fast over the past 3 months, but Dubai traded at a cheaper multiples. I prefer Dubai rather than Qatar stocks,” said Elalfy.