Emirates NBD leads advance in UAE share indices

Dubai: United Arab Emirates shares advanced, led by Emirates NBD, the UAE's biggest bank by assets.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index increased 0.5 percent to 5,649.89, ending a two-day decline, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index rose 0.9 percent to 4,947.41.

"The economic outlook is good in the region with record crude oil prices,'' Faisal Hasan, head of research at Global Investment House, said in a telephone interview from Kuwait today. "Liquidity will be high because of oil prices.''

Crude oil rose to a record above $135 a barrel in New York today after U.S. stockpiles unexpectedly dropped and traders closed losing trades on bets that prices would fall.

Emirates NBD advanced 1.7 percent to 12.1 dirhams. In neighboring Abu Dhabi, Emirates Telecommunications Corp., the second-largest Arab phone company by market value, rose 0.7 percent to 20.90 dirhams.

In Doha, the DSM 20 Index declined 1.8 percent to 11,990.93.

The Doha measure fell ahead of the listing of Gulf International Services, a former unit of state-owned Qatar Petroleum, Amro Motasim, head broker at Al-Ahli Bank of Qatar, said in a phone interview from Doha today. "Investors want extra cash to trade that day.''

The Kuwait Stock Exchange Index lost 0.2 percent while Oman's Muscat Securities Market 30 Index advanced 0.6 percent