UAE stocks claw back gains early on Wednesday

Dubai: Stock markets in the UAE inched slightly higher on Wednesday morning, with investors taking a cue from US markets which gained a day earlier as the Federal Reserve and the government announced concerted action to boost liquidity.

The Dubai bourse’s main index was up 1.3 per cent in the first 30 minutes of trade, at 1,772, while Abu Dhabi’s  was nearly 1 per cent higher. Most stocks were trading in green, with Emirates NBD 1.67 per cent higher and Union Properties up a sizeable 5 per cent.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, meanwhile, gained 5 per cent and Eshraq Properties by 13 per cent.

On Tuesday evening, both Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s bourses issued statements saying that they are amending the downward limit on share prices to 5 per cent a day from 10 per cent in an attempt to reduce market volatility amid the coronavirus outbreak. The upward limit remains at 15 per cent a day.

The UAE’s Central Bank and government both said they are also pumping liquidity into banks and launching  stimulus packages worth billions of dirhams.