Abu Dhabi: Construction giant, Arabtec Holding, returned to trade on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) after being suspended on Thursday for ambiguity on share ownership, and ended the day with a 9.9 per cent drop.

The company had been suspended amid rumours that Aabar Investments is set to increase its stake in Arabtec.

A statement released on the DFM website on Sunday by Aabar said, “As a partner that is committed to supporting Arabtec, Aabar confirms that it is currently considering many strategic options regarding investments in Arabtec. Thus, any conversations we have with any party about this topic are absolutely confidential until a decision is taken, based on which, Aabar will notify the markets as per the law.”

The statement also said that Aabar is a state-owned company that is authorised to invest in various sectors in order to gain economic benefit regardless of the short-term implications on the stock market.

Despite the statement, investors appeared to be wary of Arabtec as its share price reached Dh4.46.

Mohammad Yasin, Managing Director of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi securities, said the market was waiting for a clearer announcement regarding share ownership.

“I think the announcement was below the market’s expectations. But I think there’s something more critical that happened because that doesn’t justify shares to go to a limit down. I think the fact that this share was suspended [on Thursday] made investors worry that this may happen sometime in the future,” he said.

With a strong weighting on the DFM index, and a trade value of over Dh908 million on Thursday, which accounted for nearly 38 per cent of the total trade, Arabtec’s plunge dragged down the DFM index 5.99 per cent.

“I believe that to minimise the damage that one share has on the market, the market could have lowered the limit down on that share from 10 per cent to five per cent. This way, even if we were to see a limit down on Arabtec, let that happen on longer sessions to lower the volatility effect on the market index,” Yasin said.

He added that the market regulator should find a way to reduce market volatility, and stop the direct correlation between Arabtec and the DFM index in particular and the UAE stock market in general.

Rumours came out on Wednesday that Aabar, currently the second-largest investor in Arabtec, was going to buy at least half of the 28.9 per cent stake owned by former chief executive officer, Hasan Ismaik.

The former CEO, who resigned in late June, remains the largest investor in the company.