Dubai: Top indices on UAE bourses edged higher on Sunday as tensions between the US and Iran eased. Dubai Financial Market’s top index ended up 0.12 per cent to 2,752.49 points, while Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange rose 0.16 per cent to 5,083.98.
“Risk aversion was the dominant theme in the first part of last week following the events in Iraq, but with de-escalation of the tension between the US and Iran at the end of it, risk appetite resurfaced,” said Timothy Fox, head of research and chief economist at Emirates NBD.
The country’s top lender Emirates NBD led the gains on the index, by rising over 1 per cent, which helped eke out a 0.2 per cent gain on the banking index. Amanat Holdings rose 1.6 per cent after the Dubai-based investment firm said it intends to buy a stake in the Middle East operations of Abu Dhabi-based VPS Healthcare.
Regional investors will closely watch out for wider market events this week, like the signing of the initial US-China trade deal.
“The improved tone at the start of this week should get further support from the expected signing of a phase one trade deal between the United States and China on Wednesday,” Fox added. “However, the limited scale of the deal in conjunction with existing tariffs still being in place highlight the likelihood that the economic environment will remain challenging.”
Other major Gulf stock markets also rose on Sunday, extending their gains from the previous sessions. Saudi Arabia’s index rose 0.7 per cent and outperformed regional peers, while the main index in Qatar edged up 0.3 per cent.
