Dubai: Mild profit-taking weighed on a few Dubai stocks on Monday but Damac Properties bucked the trend to end higher.
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index slipped 0.21 per cent to close the session at 3,658.14. Emaar Properties closed 0.83 per cent lower at Dh8.35 while Union Properties shed 1.4 per cent to close at Dh0.880. Arabtec fell 0.84 per cent to Dh3.54.
Damac, however, climbed 3.05 per cent to end at Dh4.05.
“We view the risk-reward proposition [in Damac] as unfavourable now, with [the] contractual sales trajectory being muted,” said Ankit Gupta at Shuaa’s Investment Management Desk.
The stock has been moving sideways for the past 13 sessions, pointing to break-out after consolidation.
In other stocks, Dubai Investment gained 1.5 per cent to end at Dh2.47 while DP World rose 0.30 per cent to close at $23.05 (Dh84.66).
Buying in Abu Dhabi banks fizzled out again, keeping the upside on the index limited, with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) General Index gaining 0.14 per cent to close at 4,591.71.
RAK Bank was up 3.10 per cent at Dh4.65, Abu Dhabi Ship Building gained 4.44 per cent to end at Dh2.35 while Agthia Group rose 1.29 per cent higher at Dh5.50. However, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), Rak Properties, Manazel Real Estate all lost ground.
ADIB closed 0.82 per cent lower at Dh3.63, Rak Properties was down 1.41 per cent at Dh0.70 and Manazel Real Estate shed 1.85 per cent to end at Dh0.53.
“Looking ahead, we expect the UAE markets to see some healthy profit-taking over the course of the week, with the DFMGI expected to touch the 3,630 support mark, while the Abu Dhabi index is expected to retrace to the 4,560 mark,” said Gupta.
In other Gulf markets, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index inched up 0.25 per cent to see out the session at 7,112.17 helped by energy and consumer durables stocks.
“We expect the Saudi market to be better bid and test the 7,200 resistance mark once again as oil prices remain steady around $52 per barrel level,” Gupta said.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp gained 0.25 per cent to end at 97.80 Saudi riyals while Alinma Bank rose 0.93 per cent to 16.26 riyals.
The Muscat MSM 30 index was up 0.40 per cent at 5,042.31 while the Bahrain All Share index climbed 0.33 per cent to end at 1,324.39.
The Kuwait Exchange index closed 0.37 per cent higher at 6,837.42 but the Qatar Exchange Index was flat at 9,342.56.
