Dubai: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) general index, which had been lagging regional peers of late, jumped more than 2.5 per cent to lead global indices in gains on Wednesday.

The index rose 2.58 per cent to close at a two-month high of 2,632.08. Traded value, which came in at Dh343 million, jumped more than three times the daily average of nearly Dh98.3 million.

Buying was seen in real estate shares such as Emaar Properties, Emaar Malls, Arabtec, and even banks. Emaar Properties shares rose 6.24 per cent while Emaar Malls closed 6.13 per cent higher.

“The strong momentum was due to [an] above-earnings estimate for Emaar and its units and that has forced analysts to move from a pessimistic to an optimistic view,” Tariq Qaqish, managing director for asset management at Menacorp, told Gulf News.

The second-best performing index was the Hang Sang index in Hong Kong, which rose 1 per cent to close at 28,514.05. The MSCI Emerging Market index was up 1.12 per cent at 1,048.63.

The Abu Dhabi index closed 0.51 per cent higher at 5,060.89. Elsewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index rose 0.59 per cent to end the session at 8,567.24.