Dubai shares decline as real estate woes continue

Dubai: UAE shares declined on Sunday, with Dubai closing 0.56 per cent lower and Abu Dhabi remaining almost flat, down just 0.06 per cent.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index (DFMGI) continued to suffer from real estate woes, with declines in Emaar Properties, Deyaar Development and Union Properties. The Dubai index closed at 4,763.06.

"DFMGI behaved in a very volatile way as it fell on the opening session and later had a smart recovery on selected buying and witnessed profit booking as the market saw a good rise later," said Shiv Prakash, equity investment analyst with Mac Sharaf Securities.

"Market is still above the previous day's low and can expect the rally towards 5,000 levels in near term."

The real estate index slid 2.27 per cent. Emaar closed 3.39 per cent lower at Dh9.11; Union Properties declined 2.31 per cent to Dh3.80 and Deyaar fell 1.62 per cent to Dh1.82.

Led by a decline in banks, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Index ended flat at 4,413.40. National Bank of Abu Dhabi fell 2.50 per cent to Dh17.55 and ADCB dragged 2.12 per cent lower to Dh4.16.