Reuters/Dubai
Dubai bluechips rose yesterday, although the wider index remains range-bound below a key psychological level, while most other Gulf Arab markets also advanced.
Dubai’s Emaar Properties climbed 3.4% to a 52-month high. Investor confidence remains upbeat in Emaar, despite fourth-quarter earnings missing estimates, as property prices in the emirate slowly recover.
Telecom operator du rose 4.7% to 4.69 dirhams, its highest close since October 2008.
Du’s fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as it wrote back tax provisions and its subscriber base rose.
Arabtec tumbled 9.7%, its lowest price since January 3, as investors continue to react negatively to the shake-up announced by the developer last week.
Dubai’s measure advanced 0.4% to 1,936 points. It has been trading in a tight range just below 2,000 points since hitting a 39-month high on February 24.
In the UAE capital, the Abu Dhabi index declined for a second session, with traders targeting small-cap stocks - a pattern usually seen in a market lacking catalysts.
The benchmark declined 0.3% to 3,037 points.
Saudi Arabia’s index gave back gains from the previous two sessions as bluechips weighed.
Banks were the main drag. SABB slipped 1.8%, while Banque Saudi Fransi and Samba Financial Group both fell 0.7%.
Of the 13 largest stocks on the bourse, ten ended the session lower and the other three were flat.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s benchmark closed 0.2% higher, snapping a five-session losing streak.
In Kuwait, the index extended recent gains, climbing 0.2% to its highest close since May 2012.
Shares have rallied after Kuwait indicated it would restart long-delayed infrastructure projects.
In Oman, the benchmark climbed 0.2%, taking its year-to-date gains to 3.5%.
Bahrain’s index reversed the previous session’s loss, gaining 0.7%, although the number of shares changing hands was at its lowest level in 2013.
