Dubai: Abu Dhabi stocks traded a little higher on Sunday, while their Dubai peers dropped for a third consecutive day as the virus-related social and commercial curbs in the region outweighed the prospects of a quicker US fiscal stimulus.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have announced last week their plans banning foreigh nationals from entering their countries while also imposing further restrictions designed to combat the coronavirus infections. The move overshadowed the hopes for a faster US aid package after the jobs there rebounded more slowly than expected in January.
Dubai Financial Market slipped 0.2 per cent to 2,667 points in what was its straight third loss. Dubai Investments Company dropped 3.2 per cent on a third consecutive day of slides to trade at Dh1.5, closing at the lowest level since January 3. The stock has come under selling pressure after reporting a 47 percent plunge in the full-year net profit sending it tumbling around 8 per cent in the last two sessions.
DAMAC Properties also fell for a third day running declining 2.2 per cent to Dh1.3 amounting to the lowest stock value this year as recent regional and global restrictions clouded the prospects for real estate recovery in Dubai anytime soon.
Flying again
Air Arabia, however, gained 2.5 per cent bouncing back from two sessions of declines as Denmark lifted a ban on flights coming from UAE.
Rally still on
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange edged up 0.1 per cent to 5,672 points with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank advancing 1.4 per cent to Dh1.4. The lender received a boost from its better-than-expected full-year results early last week triggering a rally that helped the stock close higher in four of the last five sessions.
The telco firm Etisalat inched up 0.3 per cent to trade at Dh19.9. The firm recently lifted the foreign ownership ceiling to 49 per cent triggering buy-in waves which helped the stock bag accumulated gains of near 18 per cent for the year.
